BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC:
WEST INDIES cricket coach Gus Logie has revealed that he too, like previous manager Ricky Skerritt, has considered resigning from his post.
Logie, however, indicated it was a very natural thing for any coach to consider stepping aside once the side of which he is in control fails to produce the kind of results that are expected.
"You think about it provided that you are wholly and solely responsible for making the decisions that affect the cricket that is played in the middle," Logie told reporters at a news conference yesterday.
"I do not see the coach of a West Indies team as the one wholly and solely responsible for making decisions out in the middle. There are some decisions that are completely out of your control.
"If we want to say the buck stops with the coach then we have to make him have some responsibility. I think the coach has to be empowered with the authority to make decisions that will be in the best interest of the team."
The former West Indies batsman also disclosed that, unlike his predecessors, he was not a member of the West Indies selection committee.
"When I became interim coach last year and spoke with the players, I recognised they have always mistrusted selectors," he said.
"As a new coach coming into the squad, I felt I needed the trust of the players and I found it difficult being a coach and a selector at the same time. I sacrificed the selectorial side of the post to focus on being coach of the team.
"What we are hoping for at the end of the day is that everyone is singing from the same page. We want the communication from everybody to make sure that we are going forward."
Logie added that the challenge of rebuilding a successful West Indies side was bringing him the greatest satisfaction in the job.
"It's about getting in there and making a contribution to West Indies cricket," he said.
"Am I happy in the job? Happiness was never a criteria for coming into the job. I am enjoying the challenge and do not see it taking away from anything I have done in the past or what I want to do in the future."
Logie identified a lack of mental strength and discipline as the biggest obstacles to West Indies fulfilling their potential.
"In Jamaica, I think we were probably prepared better than ever before," he said.
"But it's not just about training and preparation, we have to ask ourselves are we mentally strong enough? Can the bowlers bowl the right line, can the batters make the right choices?
"We can use a psychologist, show players a lot of things, but at the end of the day it's down to the players. They must have a passion for the team and a responsibility for themselves."
Logie noted the problem with indiscipline was not new. There were similar instances of indiscipline in the past, but previous teams were more successful.
"We have talked about the kind of discipline we want and the kind of work ethic we want, but discipline has always been a problem," he said. "I think you could go back in the archives and you'll find it was always a problem, it's just that we were much more successful then.
"I think it's a reflection of the society we live in. There is indiscipline in our schools - I think we have to realise that we are failing our young people.
"We cannot then believe that when a guy puts on a maroon blazer or a maroon cap that he is a saint."
West Indies trail England 0-2 in the four-Test series and are seeking to keep Michael Vaughan's side from becoming the first English side to win a Test series on Caribbean soil since 1968.
The third Test starts on Thursday at Bridgetown's Kensington Oval.
