Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
WEST INDIES coach Gus Logie appears to be on the way out - probably back to the Under-19 team where he did a wonderful job. It appears that the West Indies Cricket Board is going for a foreign coach and if the reading of the situation is correct, it will be an Australian.
Although no one is saying anything, even though he did not say that Logie will be out and that a foreigner will be in, WICB president Teddy Griffith said enough recently at the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board's 48th anniversary dinner in Port of Spain to more than suggest that Logie's days are numbered and that a foreigner will be in charge of two of the most important areas of West Indies cricket.
In its efforts to improve the standard of West Indies cricket and thus the performance of the West Indies team, the board formed a committee under the chairmanship of vice president Val Banks.
MANDATE
Its mandate was to look at the management structure of West Indies cricket, to develop a model that could drive the team to consistently good performances and as Griffith told the gathering at the Hilton Hotel in Port of Spain, among the recommendations that have since been made and that have been accepted in principle are those relating to the head coach, the selectors and the captain.
According to the proposals, apart from having the responsibility for all cricketing matters, apart from preparing the team, apart from automatically being a selector, the head coach will be the principal authority in the selection of the final XI.
He will have the casting vote, he, with some help from the captain, will decide the strategies and tactics of the team and because of all that he will be accountable for the performance of the team and will be judged by the performance of the team as far as his contract is concerned.
With the head coach the man as far as the final XI is concerned, with the head coach having the casting vote, their will be no chairman of selectors. There will be a convenor instead - a man whose job it will be to set the roster and schedule meetings of the selectors whose job will be simply to select a squad and pass it on to the head coach who, in consultation with the captain, will decide who represents the West Indies in a match.
NO LOVE LOST
The head coach, therefore, will be El Supremo, and that is one reason why it looks like Logie is on the way out and a foreigner is on the way in. It is difficult to see the board giving a West Indian coach all that power and remembering that there is no love lost between the present coach and the present captain, remembering the influence of the captain, certainly not to Logie.
Griffith went on to say that according to the proposals, the captain will lead the team on the field and carry out the strategies and the tactics which will be decided by the coach with some help from the captain.
That again is another reason why it looks like Logie is on the way out and a foreigner is on the way in. It is difficult to see Lara following the instructions of Logie in anything - and especially so when it comes to strategies and tactics.
Although the proposals have only been accepted in principle, it appears certain that they will be accepted, and if indeed they are accepted, put a dollar or two on it.
