TRANSFORMING IMPROVEMENT INTO WINS

As we watch the West Indies fight on Day 4 in this first Test against England at Lords, there is a sense that the outcome is inevitable. With more than a day to go at the time of writing the West Indies are 264 for 6 in their second innings, a lead of 109 over England and with only four second innings wickets left standing. So unless Darren Sammy and Denesh Ramdin stage a recovery of historic proportions, or it rains like it can in England, this Test match will likely be over by or just after lunch on the fifth and final day.

The growing number of West Indies detractors will continue to deride the embattled captain and blame him for everything including the weather. But at the time of writing the West Indies, having resumed batting on the day on 120 for 4, still needing a further 35 runs to ensure that England bat again, the West Indies have steadily moved on to 265 for 6 at tea on Day 4, leading by 110 runs. So on the day when they needed a solid performance from their batsmen the West Indies have put on 140-odd runs for the loss of just two wickets. For the overly critical it will never be good enough. However, for the practical the performance represents what I have been saying about this West Indies team in recent times.

Sure this team is nowhere as close to where their supporters need them to be but how often have we seen the West Indies in similar positions to the one they were in at the start of the day’s play only for them to capitulate in an hour’s play? But not today and certainly not in the past few months. The team has shown signs of growth – they are still prone to moments of sheer madness – and this Test is the latest example.

The top order batsmen are still a way off from where they need to be and the mental errors are still too many for my liking. Consider the situation the West Indies were in on Day 3 when Kirk Edwards just arrived at the crease following another brain freeze from Kieran Powell who decides to play a risky hook shot so soon after his fellow opener Adrian Barath was dismissed. A more seasoned pair of batsmen would have opted to just block a few balls until they got their eyes in before shifting the focus to run scoring. But for Bravo and Edwards, who is very insecure in the English conditions, they thought it prudent to go for a single that was never really on. The confusion between them that eventually led to Edwards’ dismissal is one area of grave concern for the top order that needs to be addressed. Clear and precise instructions need to be drilled into them until they are able to fashion the logical thoughts of their own. No un-necessary risks need to be taken when a wicket falls, especially in a Test match where the urgency is not that immediate.

Personally, I would have opted for more experienced players like Ramnaresh Sarwan who has demonstrated that he is in the pink of form playing for Leicestershire, and Brendan Nash, who is also batting well, but for some reason they were never considered.  And then there are those players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Chris Gayle. These are players that could make the Windies into a pretty formidable unit. However, they’re not available for one reason or the other. West Indies CEO Ernest Hilaire may have shed some light on why some players are not in the team during an interview he did with David Gower on the third day of the match when he suggested that some of the more experienced players never showed the discipline or the commitment to team while they were members of the West Indies squad. If that is the case then you really don’t want to have too many of those players on your team. The results of the past decade is testimony to that, but here is where I disagree with the CEO. Every sports team at one point or the other is comprised of players who have those very same issues of discipline and commitment. It is in these times when you need a manager who can very effectively manage people.

Take for example, how the late Chuck Daley and Phil Jackson managed to get the best out of the erratic Dennis Rodman while he played for championship winning Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls respectively. Talented players are not always the easiest to deal with but those types of players are as much a part of sport as winning and losing are. This is where the WICB continues to fail.

Otis Gibson has brought a much needed change in discipline and work ethic to the team and it is – whether we want to accept it or not – bearing fruit. During his rant on KLAS just over a year ago, Chris Gayle blasted the coach for his emphasis on fitness. What Gayle needed to have recognized is that it is the fitness that allows players to play at their best for four and five days at a time. And that is some of what has been missing from the West Indies team. Players who are only fit enough to play for two days or two hours will only last that long in a Test match and which is why the West Indies would lose in two or three days. Now, the team is fitter and its members are able to concentrate for longer periods and what we see is that the matches are lasting longer and longer and before long, we would hope, stretching those matches out will lead to a building of confidence that will eventually result in more frequent wins. That however, is still a work in progress.

That being said, what Gibson lacks is the ability to manage the players that are not sold on his philosophy. He expects the players to adapt but clearly he has not adapted to what is required to make them buy what he is selling. Clearly Gayle, Sarwan, Nash and others were not buying it; Gibson then needed to find a way to make them see his point and by finding a way but not by trying to bully them. Anyone with any common sense will know that a player like Gayle, who is so physically imposing and strong-willed is not going to be bullied and as such there are players who will back him because he backs them.

That is where the approach needs to change.

The ‘troublesome’ senior players need to be allowed back into the team – perhaps not all at the same time – and managed well. This will give players like Powell, Braithwaite and company time to tour, gain experience and work out their flaws. That is how you build a winning team.

If the WICB takes that approach, I believe the West Indies will finally start to turn the corner and transform these encouraging performances into something even better; winning performances.