THE EDITOR, Sir:NORMALLY, I would have no problem ignoring Ricky Ponting's comments on Brian Lara's innings because it simply wouldn't be Australian for him to be gracious when his teammate's record has been broken. However the stupidity he advances as the logic for his comments cannot be allowed to pass.
The primary suggestion is that the innings cost WI a chance to win the game. When Lara declared we had just under eight sessions to bowl out England twice. I simply cannot remember a team batting a total of eight sessions and losing a match.
So we failed to win because on that featherbed of a wicket and our bowling attack could not get England out. Had we declared earlier - say at the end of day two when we were on 636 - and even been able to get England out below the follow-on target, the likeliest scenario would see England batting themselves to safety and WI batting on the last day to save the game.
Lest we forget, England were comfortably on their way to in excess of 500 when the game was called off. We could also consider the unlikely scenario that having declared earlier we had gone on to win the game. WI would have lost the series 3-1, 'Matty' would still have his record and Ponting would be happy.
Would this really have been a preferred outcome? Even if Lara had gotten a triple we would hear that the wicket was easy and the Englishmen weren't motivated because they had already won the series.
All the accolades would have gone to the Englishmen and we would be left licking our wounds. As it turned out we were beaten by a better side but Lara guaranteed that we need not be ashamed because the series will be remembered (a little bit unfairly) as the one in which Lara made Test cricket's first quad.
Bob Marley's words ".. dem a go tired fe se we face ..." comes to mind.
I don't think all this is lost on Ponting, so why then his comments? In truth Australian cricket has an awkward dilemma. With all the success they have had none of their numbers walks around with the mantle of great on his shoulder. They are seen for what they are. A bunch of very good cricketers who have achieved tremendous success through hard work, discipline and application. Indeed this is a model that should be copied by everyone. However we all know that sportsmen all crave the higher accolade of "great" and the public will more easily remember a moment of magic than an era of efficiency.
Somewhat unfairly therefore, for the most part, the names of the cricketers that have made up this golden era in Australian cricket will not be engraved in the heart of the faithful. Shane Warne is the closest they have come but his personal troubles and the fact that he is being overshadowed by 'Murali' is preventing him from being elevated. Of course, all this appeared to change six months ago with Hayden's record. Then along came Lara ... again!
I have no problem with Ponting feeling peeved, but please spare us the bull.
Unless he is prepared to be honest and spell out what is really griping him then he should sit down and shut up.
I am, etc.,
DONOVAN SUMMERS
dsummers@mail.infochan.
com
Via Go-Jamaica.com
Concerned about WI cricketTHE EDITOR, Sir:
I AM really concerned about the current state of West Indies cricket.
The West Indies cricket team is performing poorly due to many factors within the organisation.
The president of West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) needs the power to fire anyone and structure the organisation as he think it should be.
Mr Ricky Skerritt should have been fired a long time ago. Viv Richards and the selection panel need to be replaced with people from outside the region who are free from biases and also accountable.
Coach Gus Logie needs to be fired and replaced by Andy Roberts, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and the great Rohan Kanhai. The great Brian Lara also needs to be replaced but at the moment no-one is there to take his place.
I read that Michael Holding mentioned that Ramnaresh Sarwan should be the replacement, but I am starting to lose faith in Holding's views.
Sarwan shouldn't have been the vice captain in the first place, much less to be the captain now.
Sarwan should be dropped from the team instantly. How could the captain bat Sarwan at No. 3 when it shows that this guy is scared of fast bowling. West Indies have one of the best all-round cricketers in the world today and won't play him in Test cricket. I am speaking of the great Ricardo Powell. This guy can bat any where in the batting order. He can open, bat at three, four, five, six and produce more than anyone in West Indies today. Any one of the Test playing countries would love to have someone of his calibre playing for them.
The board needs to have better training facilities and better trainers. The players need to train harder and treat the game as a career.
I am, etc.,
EVERTON RICHARDS
E-mail: evertonr64@
hotmail.com
3 Darby Court, Toronto, Canada
Via Go-Jamaica.com
Let's get realTHE EDITOR, Sir:
LET'S BE true to ourselves.
The time has come for us to admit the obvious. The West Indies cricket team is now on par, if not below, teams like Bangladesh, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
We need also to admit that this present England team is perhaps the best English team ever to visit the Caribbean.
We have been solidly beaten by a more well-oiled machine. I think the present West Indies team is quite representative of the best we have to offer at this time. There can be little argument about team selection, captaincy, etc. The answer to our problems is simple technology. This became evident during the famous Test series in Australia, where a certain bowler was introduced into the attack each time Brian Lara made his way to the crease. The rest is history.
The point is every other team seems to know our weaknesses and has been successful in exploiting them. The question is, do we know our weaknesses?
If so, what is being done to correct them?
Then by extension, do we know how to bowl each and every player that we face?
My guess is no.
Fast bowling is no longer a novelty and is now a norm. I think even Marshall, Holding, Ambrose and others would not have made a difference in the context of this present series. The truth be told, we cannot really blame the loss of the Test series on poor bowling performance. By the way, no one would want to see a Test match wrapped up in two days.
I am, etc.,
FLOYD OGILVIE
69 Farhill Avenue,
Brampton, Ontario Canada
Via Go-Jamaica.com
Impulsive batsmenTHE EDITOR, Sir:
IT WAS during the Australia vs West Indies cricket ODI series last year that I heard Neville Bell, host of the TVJ pre-game show, refer to a truism that went something like this: the control of impulse is a foundation stone of good cricket as well as of good character.
He was, at the time, bemoaning the penchant of our talented West Indian batsmen to be tempted into risky, naked aggression at well-pitched balls moving away, particularly outside the off-stump, but he might as well have been pin-pointing the fly in the ointment of West Indies cricket over the past several years. Caribbean people are by nature impulsive; it appears to be coded into our DNA, so it really isn't surprising that it is also a profound (albeit crowd-pleasing) part of our sports heritage and persona. Impulsiveness, alas is a double-edged sword; it cuts an impressive and exciting figure in the attack mode but often gives way to rapid capitulation when forced on to the defensive.
Any entity, be it a person, group, team, or nation, which confines itself to a persistently impulsive approach, is of course one-dimensional, predictable and presents opponents with an easy study on how it may be subdued.
This in part explains how South Africa, Australia and now England have set about trampling with disdain upon what used to be one of the cricketing world's most exciting brands.
I have read several articles written by others more in tune with the nuances and politics of West Indies cricket, advancing reasons for the precipitous decline. They include indiscipline, injury, lack of talent, too much cricket, lack of team spirit, uninspired management and leadership, and even the crippling effects of neo-colonialism on third-world countries, but it is the hapless surrender of the batting that haunts me.
Impulsiveness is born of immaturity, sired by arrogance, nurtured by obsessive hero-worship, and usually perishes on the altar of embarrassment. That is exactly where we are today and it is probably the cruelest of ironies that we are bottoming out even as we are preparing to host the World Cup in 2007.
I am, etc.,
HECTOR MARTIN
E.mail: arrow-of-time@prodigy.net
1424 Coventry Road, High Point, North Carolina,
US Via Go-Jamaica.com
