Loose ends and loose lips

Not yet in place: West Indies' new coach, John Dyson, will miss the tour of Zimbabwe © Getty Images

This is the tale of two Johns: one who is not yet in place, and the other who is a farce and out of place.

You would think that, especially after all the challenges at the early stages of Bennett King's tenure as coach of the West Indies team, efforts would have been redoubled to ensure that his immediate successor spends as much time familiarising himself with the cricketers ahead of their next assignment.

But given the way things generally operate around here, we really shouldn't be surprised to learn that John Dyson is not in Barbados for the squad's training camp, nor will he be accompanying them for the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe.

The explanation from the West Indies Cricket Board is that the former international opening batsman was required to give his current employers notice of his impending departure, while the process of relocating his family to Antigua is also taking some time.

The reasons may be valid, but yet another golden opportunity has been lost.

Surely those who were part of the hiring process would have taken into consideration the need for that individual to be involved from the outset of the assignment in Zimbabwe.

The expectation that the regional side will dominate the Zimbabweans is irrelevant in the context of appreciating the importance of Dyson spending time with the players in an environment where lines of communication can be opened and both sides can understand with crystal clarity where the other is coming from.

All of that team-building would more than likely make no difference for the main part of the campaign in South Africa, by which time Dyson is due to be on board.

But if our administrators see this latest Australian supervisor as the man to initiate the revolution that is so desperately needed, wouldn't it have made sense to ensure that the new coach was in place for the formative process now underway instead of hopping onto the bus in the midst of the journey?

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Remember the fiasco of the premature announcement of King as coach in 2003, only for Gus Logie to fill the breach until terms were finally agreed with the Queenslander 18 months later? When he did eventually take charge in the aftermath of the 2004 Champions Trophy triumph in England, King had to contend with almost non-stop turmoil from day one as the sponsorship dispute between Cable and Wireless and Digicel ruined plans to build on the momentum of that dramatic victory in London.

At least now, with the freefall to irrelevance showing no signs of slowing down, Dyson, even as a Johnny-come-lately when the squad reaches Johannesburg on December 10, won't be burdened by the weight of expectation.

In contrast, Dyson's compatriot, namesake and fellow coach seems to be getting carried away with this period of almost complete Australian dominance of the international game.

Here's a bit of what John Buchanan had to say recently: "Countries should look to recruit young players from Australia, and places like India, to increase their depths of talent. Those players would enhance the domestic competition and, hopefully, go on to play Test cricket for the country they move to.

"We don't want cricket to become like a horse race when the favourite wins all the time. No-one will want to watch."

The way the former Australian team coach and several other prominent personalities have been going on recently about the inexorable march of Ricky Ponting's side, you might think that this is unprecedented in the history of the game.

Then again, it might be...if your appreciation of cricket began in 1995, which would mean that the greatest period of dominance in the annals of Test cricket never happened.

I can understand why it may seem so unreal in the context of a contemporary squad that makes a mockery of those golden memories, but the fact remains that the West Indies, not Australia or anyone else for that matter, were unbeaten for 15 years in Test series anywhere in the world. That's 29 series (17 of them away from home) in a row in which our Caribbean conquerors remained invincible from 1980 to 1995.

To match that, the Australians have to play unbeaten for another 13 years.

Yet there was no condescending talk then from West Indians about making our second-tier of players available to the rest of the world. We simple-minded types just reveled in the success without taking it as a license to pass judgment and prescribe all sorts of preposterous and insulting solutions to everyone else.

The fact that the Australians, followed by most of the cricketing world, have not only caught up with us but left us trailing so very far behind is an indictment of our complacency and short-sightedness.

However, it doesn't nullify a standard that Ponting and his successors will have to match first before all this self-serving drivel about unhealthy dominance gains any real currency.

As someone who experienced the West Indian juggernaut at its height first-hand, maybe Dyson should advise his namesake to show a little more respect for a record that will remain unsurpassed until 2020, at least. It won't compensate for not being in Barbados right now, but at least it will be an expression of real interest in West Indies cricket by the new coach while he ties up loose ends at home.