Logie upset with criticism

A disappointed Gus Logie has expressed hurt at the constant criticism West Indies have come under for their poor performances. He defended Brian Lara, whose captaincy credentials have been questioned more vociferously of late, and suggested that once back-up was in place the team would perform well.

Sir Vivian Richards, who recently tendered his resignation from the West Indian selection committee, has said that Lara could no longer motivate his unfocused players. There were other calls for a change of leadership as well, with Ramnaresh Sarwan suggested as a possible long-term replacement.

"It certainly hurts to hear ex-West Indies players being critical of the captain, because they are the players we've asked for assistance in the past," AAP reported Logie as saying. "Some of them are very reluctant to give that. We like positive and constructive criticism that can help the youngsters and the team as much as possible."

After the heavy defeat at Edgbaston, Lara revealed that he had no plans to give up the captaincy midway through the tour, saying that even thinking about resigning was "impossible", and left his future to the selectors. He reiterated that all his talented team needed to do was focus.

Logie too said that there were mental lapses, and suggested that even though the team's physical preparation was comprehensive, the mental grounding wasn't all there. "What you see out there in the middle sometimes are not just physical mistakes but mental lapses," said Logie. "We need a lot of work outside the physical side of things. We've asked for assistance in many areas and some of it has not come in yet and we hope in the near future it will."

Logie did find a silver lining in the cloud of defeat, believing that West Indies could take heart from some of their performances. "There were some individual brilliant performances at Edgbaston. Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a fine hundred, Chris Gayle did well with the ball and the bat, and Jermaine Lawson was coming back to his best in the second innings."

But the few positives did not mean much, for they could not avert a heavy defeat. Richards realised the brilliance, but said the team needed much more. "We've seen some brilliance here and there," said Richards, "but success for an hour or two isn't going to win you any Test matches."