Confusing signals from WI-Best of strokes

In the short space of time spent in Australia, the West Indies team seem bent on confirming our greatest fears of yet another comprehensive beating on an overseas tour.

However optimistic you would like to be, one cannot ignore the startling reality of the team's ineptness at the international level.

There's a clear departure from that durable characteristic which was the essence of our former strength and dominance at the highest level.

There also seems to be no sign of maturity, effort or pride evolving from within the team's ranks, in spite of the obvious crisis which confronts the labouring West Indies side.

Nothing short of a miracle can avoid another major embarrassment for the team's management and players.

This should not be a big surprise when one recalls Roger Harper, the West Indies chief coach, saying in response to the team's defeat in England, "but we must remember the West Indies team has not been doing very well on overseas tour".

This quiet admission was but a convincing acceptance to the "sad facts".

Add to this, Haydn Gill's report in the Sunday Sun (November 19) that the chairman of selectors, Mike Findlay, is now asking the questions: What's wrong? Where is the discipline? Why are there such problems relating to attitude, commitment and fitness?

What is disappointingly unacceptable is that the chairman relied exclusively on Colin Croft's report on the Internet web site " CricInfo " in making his public comments, and could not refer to any form of communication between himself and the team's management in Australia.

This situation points clearly to serious communications gaps within the entire management of West Indies cricket, for which the West Indies Cricket Board may be largely responsible.

As a result, the international image of West Indies cricket is rapidly deteriorating, with the team quickly losing their competitive appeal in the sport.

At this stage the board cannot be seen to be focussing only on fulfilling contracts (example: England "A" playing in the Busta Cup and a packed itinerary), but rather, ought to be reorganising its philosophy and structure " The West Indian way " in an effort to recapture that crucial competitive edge.

The team's performance on the field can only reflect the quality of its management and that of the board as a whole.

Perhaps Findlay may wish to comment on why was it necessary for an assistant coach at the expense of a specialist in "sports performance enhancement", for example, Dr. Rudi Webster on this vital tour to Australia.