BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):
A DAY after West Indies suffered a humiliating defeat to England, some angry fans yesterday called for changes in the team's leadership.
But Saturday's loss also poured an overwhelming sense of melancholy over the region with former West Indies Cricket Board president Wes Hall summing up the mood.
"I played for the West Indies so you must know how I feel," said Hall, a fast bowling great of the 1960s. "To lose like this, and to England, hurts."
England ended a 36-year drought in the Caribbean on Saturday with a win in the third Test to take a winning 3-0 lead in the four-match series.
"I am gutted," said Vanburn Holder, a West Indies fast bowler of the 1970s who now lives in England where he is a top-class umpire.
There were other, angrier reactions among many fans.
"Fire (captain Brian) Lara. Fire (coach Gus) Logie. Fire the board," shouted Ryan Scantlebury, a 34-year-old carpenter.
Chris Wood, a 38-year-old fan and accountant, didn't name names but echoed Scantlebury's call for change.
"Something drastic must be done," he said. "The West Indies can't get any worse."
Meanwhile, regional cricket officials called for a more measured reaction. Barbados Cricket Association president Stephen Alleyne made an appeal for more unity in constructing a plan to deal with the crisis.
"It is clear that the entity we are dealing with is not well," he said. "When you are faced with a situation like this, you have to find out what the root causes are and you have to resolve to fix them. I think that is the challenge that is facing West Indies cricket."
A sports psychologist who worked with the West Indies team for much of its glory years as undisputed world champions in the 1980s said criticism should be kept to a minimum.
"They know they are performing well below their potential and criticism is not what they need at the moment," Dr. Rudi Webster said. "I don't think we have done a serious enough analysis of where we are now and our needs."
