Big Bird still one o' the boys (7 May 1999)

7 May 1999

Big Bird still one o' the boys

Philip Spooner

Never mind his administrative positions, Joel Garner says he is still very much a cricketers' man.

The "Big Bird" says his sole aim in administration is to make West Indies cricket better.

Many who admired the former fast bowler's exploits and his passionate defence of players' rights began to ask questions about where Garner stood as he rose to positions of influence in local and regional cricket bodies.

His role as an emissary of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in the impasse with the players that led to a delay to the start of the West Indies tour of South Africa last year added grist to the debate.

Garner, now a West Indies selector and a WICB board member, rejects any notion that he has strayed from his roots.

"I'm still very much a cricketer first and an administrator after. But I am not going to be a hypocrite and condone folly or any foolishness that anybody does," said the third vice-president of the Barbados Cricket Association.

"As an administrator, if the administration does foolishness, it should be told," he added.

"A lot of people feel I am out of my depth, but I am still pro-cricket and pro-cricketers."

Garner, who has managed the West Indies "A" team in recent times, said respect was the key in every situation, and administrators and players needed to be closer for the partnership to work.

"When I am manager the players know where to draw the line," he said. "What I'm interested in, is putting on a professional approach in the same way that I'm expecting them to put on a professional approach to the game.

"I also expect the administration to be very professional in its approach to players as well."

Garner, who at six feet, seven inches captured 259 wickets in 58 Tests, had a few bouncers for the local cricket administration, saying he was disappointed with the way in which some things were done.

"I don't mind people being ambitious but at the end of the day you still have to have the game at heart and still want to contribute to the game."

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)