The selectors, by and large, should have a pretty good idea of who can and can't play in the region and, let's face it, it's not like the Caribbean is brimming over with talent. - Tym Glaser, SPORT SPOTLIGHT

HAVE THE lunatics finally taken over the asylum? Just who is running this listing ship known as SS West Indies?

Since when does a board continually veto recommendations from the selection panel it entrusted to pick teams and captains in the first place?

And since when does a player start outlining when he should bat in the nets and, when that doesn't go his way, write to the board president and team manager about discrimination?

And you wonder why the good ship Windies is sinking!

who can and can't play

The selectors, by and large, should have a pretty good idea of who can and can't play in the region and, let's face it, it's not like the Caribbean is brimming over with talent.

Sure, they go for retreads and Marlon Samuels' belated selection to the Test squad when skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan crashed out was baffling, but there must have been some reason the board picked these guys to do the picking, so just let them do their jobs - and if you don't like it - get rid of 'em.

What the board can do is make recommendations to the selectors, but basically when they have finally picked their squad, it should be a fait accompli and all the board should do is to rubber stamp it.

This board is in no position to meddle with selection issues as it is ill-qualified and obviously out of its depth when dealing with on-field cricket issues.

The ridiculous amount of navel-gazing that went on when the selectors chose Chris Gayle to lead the one-day and 20/20 sides and the board vacillated was an embarrassment.

Thankfully, Gayle, who was hung out to try for a couple of days, took the high road and accepted the job when the board finally okayed the choice instead of saying: "Nope. Stick it!"

Who else was board plumping for? Daren Ganga couldn't make a Cricket World Cup squad of 30 and can barely make a run in the current Test series. Shivnarine Chanderpaul? Been there and done that - pretty badly, too. Denesh Ramdin? Not ready yet. Basically, there was no option but Gayle.

So why all the fuss?

Maybe the board and its president were distracted by the Marlon missive in which the Jamaican quasi-all rounder sledged coach David Moore and his predecessor, Bennett King, for sidelining him.

A player with only one century under his belt from 23 Tests and a grand average of 28 is in no real position to tell a coach when he should get a bat in the nets.

And could he have seriously believed he was in the running for a place in the third Test side on the back of no first-class cricket since the Cricket World Cup?

He's there to make up the numbers and to get ready for the abbreviated games to come.

It's okay to be upset if you think you are not getting a fair go but don't take it to the bosses. Tell the skipper. His job is not just to tell the other guys where to stand in the field and pick who's going to bowl but also to maintain harmony and discipline within the side. The captain is supposed to be the big man in the dressing room - not the coach or manager.

If Samuels felt he could not go to Ganga - or that his gripe was ignored by the captain, then we have yet another problem as it could be a manifestation of that West Indian staple called factionalism.

If the people in West Indian cricket don't know what their roles are, what their specific duties are and where their mandates begin and end; it's time for them to move on.

SS West Indies is rudderless at the moment. Everything seems to be upside down and back to front. It's a Bizarro world of cricket management and the Windies won't sail anywhere until the excess baggage is dumped.

It would be nice if the guys at the top saw the light and honourably walked the plank first.

Feedback: tym.glaser@gleanerjm.com