Tony Becca
THE PERFORMANCE of the West Indies team over the past 10 years has been poor.
There is no doubt about that and cricket fans around the region have been talking about it and have been making suggestions, many suggestions, as to what can be done, or should be done, in an effort to change things.
On Friday, in this column, I made a suggestion, one of my many suggestions over the years, as to what can be done or should be done. The result was a number of telephone calls on Friday telling me that I was crazy that my suggestion simply cannot work.
My suggestion was that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) get the past great
players of West Indies cricket involved in coaching the team as well as young players with promise. The criticism was that the past greats cannot and will never do a good job, not because they are not qualified, not because they know nothing about batting, bowling or fielding, but because they are too arrogant and because they are not disciplined enough to manage their time to work in a system.
SOME TRUTH IN BOTH
While there is some truth in both criticisms, arrogance may well be one reason why they became great and as far as not being disciplined enough to
manage their time, as far as punctuality is concerned, that may well be because of their lifestyle as professional sportsmen.
But for a few and a very few at that arrogance and great performances in sport go hand in hand, and again but for a few, when they are not performing, when they are not training or practising, time is not a problem.
In other words, apart from talent, apart from skill, it is probably the arrogance, the unwavering belief in one's ability to perform in all circumstances and situations, that often separates the men from the boys; and when they are resting and relaxing, time, obviously, is not a
problem.
Arrogance and the apparent disregard for time, therefore, are par for the course for
professional sportsmen and sportswomen, and certainly those in sport the fans and administrators should recognise and appreciate that.
Instead of condemning the great players for these things, people should realise that after spending so much of their life performing at the highest level, after developing an attitude and a lifestyle which enabled them to perform, it is natural for them to continue in that vein.
The people should understand that and accept it at least until they, the stars, the heroes of the people, move into everyday life and when, by necessity, they have to adjust to their new life and change their attitude and their lifestyle.
While some may change quickly, however, others may not, and the important things are that the people help them to change as quickly as possible, have a little patience with those who do not change quickly, and forget those who cannot adjust or those who refuse to do so.
What is most important is this: West Indies cricket needs some good and some brilliant batsmen, some good and some brilliant bowlers; and, some good and brilliant fielders.
By performing at the highest level over a number of years, the great players of yesterday must know how to bat, how to bowl and how to field; they must be able to teach these skills. Every effort should be made to get them involved in a programme aimed at getting West Indies cricket back to or close to where it was up to 10 years ago.
