BRIAN LARA, who is in his third stint as captain of the West Indies cricket team, probably has cause for being peeved at not being part of the team selection panel or having his views overlooked on the matter of squad selection.
Lara may well be right, and is within his rights, if he was angry at the state of the pitch for the fourth Test at Sabina Park, which his team lost to India by 49 runs, thus giving the visitors the four-match series 1-0. Indeed, his ironic applause in the direction of the pavilion, seemingly of the ground staff during his second innings knock on Sunday, suggested that Lara was in fact angry.
But whatever his emotional position, Lara needs to separate the two things as he makes up his mind on whether to follow through on his implied threat to step down as captain. Having to bat on a difficult pitch and not being able to produce free-flowing brilliance is one thing. Ignominious surrender is another. Lara and his team, at Sabina Park, surrendered ignominiously. In some respects, the performance was more pathetic a spectacle than watching the West Indies being routed by England's Harmison two years ago.
Let's place things into perspective here. The West Indies, but for their show of ineptitude, was in a good position to win up to the last day. They bowled out India for 200 in the first innings. And as bad as the pitch might have been, with a bit of application their reply should have been better than 103. But then, the bowlers did a salvage job, bowling out India for 171, leaving the West Indies 268 to win. Even on the Sabina pitch, that score was certainly achievable.
Lara and his men, as has too often been the case in recent years, lacked courage and application. If Lara decides to step down on the selection issue, let that be a fundamental matter of principle. If Sabina Park comes into the picture, then he will have offered his resignation for failing to rally the troops and being distracted at a critical moment.
Fred Trueman
In C.L.R. James' book about life and history and culture observed through the prism of cricket, he tells of the Matthew Bondmon, the village lout, whom his puritanical aunt could not abide, but for the fact that he could bat.
We do not quite feel quite the same way about Fred Trueman, the English cricketer, who died on Saturday, at age 75, although at times we have felt ourselves sorely provoked. But he could bowl. Indeed, 'Fiery Fred' was as good as any fastbowler who ever graced a cricket field, a declaration eloquently made by 307 wickets in 67 Test matches at just over 21 apiece. Many a West Indian view of Trueman would have been formed from his first tour to the region in 1954 when he was sent home for allegedly making a racist remark to an umpire, which he consistently denied. There was also his perceived carping against the great team of the 1980s. But then Trueman carped against all. The bottom line was Trueman was honest and he gave us joy, whether on the field on in the commentary box.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
