Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter

EVERYBODY HAS been talking about who should be the West Indies' next captain and while I would prefer to see Ramnaresh Sarwan in the position, there is another issue that should be highlighted.

Brian Lara relinquished his hold on the West Indies' captaincy on April 19 and today, there still has not been a declaration from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) about who his successor will be.

This is not because the situation of not having a captain is a particularly difficult one to solve, but because the bureaucracy that prevails when the WICB disagrees with their committee of selectors is difficult to get around.

The rumour at this point is that the selection committee has recommended Sarwan as the next West Indies captain and the board, in particular president Ken Gordon, has not agreed.

According to the rumours, Gordon is backing Daren Ganga for the position.

It matters not to me which one of them is chosen because they both have pedigree as leaders, what does matter is the fact that a row looksto be developing over the choice.

This, I think, is inevitable when the selection panel chosen by the board doesn't have the teeth to make its own decisions.

According to WICB by-laws, the selection committee can only recommend who the West Indies captain should be, while the board ratifies that selection.

Dangerous

While it might be dangerous to give any one group of people complete power in an organisation, I am of the opinion that the current process only leads to delays.

These delays can certainly be harmful to a team's performance. For instance, let's say Sarwan becomes captain, two things could happen.

One, Sarwan might not have enough time to wrap his mind around his new role he should have been gearing up for it, and two, Sarwan might not be completely confident about the board's belief in him as a captain and this could affect his performance.

Ganga's situation

Of course, the same could happen to Ganga and his situation is even more severe, given the fact that he hasn't cemented his place in the West Indies team. As a matter of fact, he can't even make the one-day squad.

Thus the prognosis reads: the WICB needs to find a way to make sure their decisions don't seem to be unsure ones, that they don't seem to be hoping they don't make a mistake.

That kind of uncertainty is something that we see in the players, in the fans who watch them and now we know that, at least in some part, it is present in the administrators who drive the sport. Maybe what is needed is a change in policy; let the selectors make their choices and call it a day after that.

If at some point the WICB feels that the committee isn't doing the West Indies any favours with their selections, they can then replace them with a group which will.