Tony Becca

A year or so ago Ken Gordon, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, said that the West Indies would win the World Cup. In fact, he was confident that the Windies would become the first home team to do so.

According to the president, the West Indies, boasting a few of the finest batsmen in the world and some of the most talented batsmen and bowlers in the world, had improved so much over the preceding year that they, despite being ranked at number eight out of 10 for a long, long time and continue to occupy that position, were going to knock over not only the likes of India, Pakistan and England, but also Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Winning the World Cup

A few weeks before the World Cup, Gordon, the man who, as far ascricket is concerned, came from out of nowhere to become the top man. And from all reports, a dictator at that, in West Indies cricket, said once again, that the West Indies, the team which, after winning some close matches at home against India, lost to Sri Lanka, India and Australia, the team that was destroyed for 80 by Sri Lanka in one match and for 113 and 138 by Australia in two matches, were going to win the World Cup.

Probably he believed that Brian Lara was going to work a miracle and not only score all the runs - or most of them, but also take all the wickets - or most of them, bowl all the maiden overs - or most of them and field every ball - or most of them.

The sad truth, however, is that the West Indies have been a disappointment. A big disappointment at that, their batsmen, their bowlers, their fielders and their captain have failed to step up and have performed way below expectations. And in losing to Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa, they have, unfortunately, but not surprisingly, lost their four matches to date in the second round of the tournament and for all intents and purposes are out of the race.

In fact, their batting, their bowling, their fielding, their team selection and the captaincy have been so poor that they lost one by 103 runs, one by seven wickets with 64 deliveries to spare, one by 113 runs and with the West Indies on 181 for seven in the 32nd over replying to 356 for four, one by 67 runs after the opposition had taken their foot off the pedal.

Maybe it is all because, like others close to the team, Gordon went out on a limb and said the West Indies would win when others were hoping and praying that the West Indies would have won - for the simple reason that it is a one-day tournament and that on their day they are good enough to beat any team in the world.

Whatever the reason, instead of taking his licks, instead of preparing himself to deal with the players and their embarrassing performances, Gordon has opened up at the media - the poor media who,including the former great West Indies players who are hurting, are only doing their job.

Selection

Ken Gordon, WICB President. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

The media certainly did not select the president of the board, did not select the coaching staff, did not select the manager, did not select the captain, did not select the squad and did not select any of the teams that have so far played in the tournament.

On top of that, the media were not guilty of not bowling Dwayne Smith for three matches - an all-rounder who, after failure upon failure, with bat and with ball, came into his own in the first match of the tournament where he scored 32 off 15 deliveries, took three wickets for 36 runs off his 10 overs, was forgotten, and then opened the bowling in match number five.

The media also did not go into a match with two specialist bowlers, while selecting a specialist batsman - a top-order batsman at that, and batting him at number eight in a one-day match.

Maybe he was selected to bat the last two overs.

According to Gordon, "It is palpably unfair to be criticising the team and its captain in the middle of a series like this".

Also, according to Gordon, instead of doing that, the media need to "exercise some cool judgement and timing".

Not cheerleaders

Gordon may be right, but as a man of the media he should also know that the media are not cheerleaders, that their duty is to say it as it is and West Indies or not, patriots or not, they have to say it as it is.

They cannot, for example, say that the team members look fit, interested and confident when they do not, that the batsmen batted well, but were unfortunate to get out when they did not and were not, that their bowlers bowled well but were unfortunate to have been hit for sixes, that they fielded brilliantly when they did not, and that the selector, or rather the selectors, picked the correct team.

The West Indies certainly are not losing because of the media. They are losing because they are not good enough, because, all things considered, they don't seem to have been giving it their best shot and most importantly, because they have not played well.

It is as simple as that.