Rousseau presides over new West Indian revolution (12 Apr 1997)

Saturday 12 April 1997

Rousseau presides over new revolution

By Mark Nicholas

CRISIS, what crisis? Not a bit of it. West Indian cricket is alive and quite well too. Perhaps not kicking, not like it kicked in the Eighties but still tickling ribs with the four fast bowler plan and feeding off a revived Brian Lara whose brilliance is once again inspiring his team-mates. There is a fresh face as president of the West Indies cricket board - the buccaneering, marketeering Jamaican Pat Rousseau, who has stepped into the shoes of the thoughtful and loyal Peter Short. There are fresh faces, too, on the board of control; Joel `Big Bird` Garner for one.

For the first time money seeps from those pores of control - more than 7.5 million of sponsorship over six years from Cable and Wireless and rights deals a`plenty from the television people.

A couple of years back it was whispered that West Indian cricket was in decline. That the great players of the great team had left the most impossible void. That the place needed a lick of paint and there wasn`t a bob in sight to do the job. That first-class cricket had grown sloppy and that the pitches were poor. That development cricket was negligible. From where, came the cry, as American television invaded homes and seduced the young, would the next Holding or Haynes emerge?

But no more the cries of despair or the tears of disharmony, for this collection of diverse islands that have united in the name of West Indian cricket and brightened the game for more than 70 years have steadied themselves and are initiating an infrastructure to secure their future.

Most notable is the consideration given to young cricketers. A regional competition at under-15 level began a year ago when it dawned on the board that there was no clear way to select a team to go to England for the under-15 Lombard World Challenge. The islands joined together to play 55-over league matches and the Caribbean Cement Company of Jamaica - run, incidentally, by Rousseau - stepped in to meet the demanding costs of internal flights, accommodation and facilities.

This competition will feed the already successful under-19 event, which is played over three days, and whose representative side tour the world as never before; Lara, Jimmy Adams and Roland Holder were products of the under-19 teams of a decade ago. `A` tours are firmly in place and an embryonic cricket academy is up and running in St Kitts and something smarter is threatened in Trinidad.

Unsurprisingly, schools cricket varies in quality around the Caribbean. Michael Holding says it is as strong as ever in Jamaica but in Barbados nearly all schools have become co-ed, which dilutes the level of interest and competition. Barbados still includes two combined school teams in the first division of the club championship but during the last five years the boys have struggled to compete effectively. In Trinidad the Indian influence is increasing and the Lara gospel is spreading even to the country, where kids are playing on the street and in the field again.

In Guyana the, `East Indians` are emerging as a dominant cricket force and they, not surprisingly, reflect in the glory of Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

It is a relief to hear that it is still about heroes and also to see that cricket is still played in every corner of Antigua and the other Leeward Islands, where Curtly Ambrose is king, as were Vivian Richards and Andy Roberts before him.

ALL the islands, though, are threatened by the influence of track and field sports, by basketball and its glorified coverage from America, by the wretched video market which glues children to television screens and by increasing parental emphasis on academic success.

The clearest move to improve domestic cricket is the yearround contract given to the Test players, which ties them to the board and ensures they resist offers to play abroad. Instead they are obligated to play in the extended first-class season, which runs until early June and a number, Ambrose for example, are already committed to coaching programmes.

Pitches remain a problem. Most are painfully slow and low in bounce, some, like Barbados in the recent Test against India, are dangerously uneven. Crucially, neither top quality batsmen nor skilful bowlers are able to express themselves in the way that was once a great attraction of West Indian cricketers. A grounds sub-committee has been formed to investigate the problem and will soon meet with all supervisors and groundsmen throughout the Caribbean.

The present team have world-class talent but they have weak links in key areas. No one, not even here in the Caribbean, expects the players to match the incredible domination of the team of the Eighties, but they do have high standards and have been angered by the indifference, arrogance at times, which has infected recent performances.

Embarrassing isolated incidents, such as Winston Benjamin being sent home from England in 1995, have exaggerated the issue. This `attitude` problem was first spotted by Malcolm Marshall back in 1992, when he said that the young West Indian players lacked respect for their seniors and lacked commitment to the game.

Three years later and Lara`s erratic moods were niggling other players, his friends included, - remember that 18 months ago, he refused to go to Australia for the World Series - and became too tricky to handle for a much-maligned and very decent captain Richie Richardson.

The Management, gregarious Wesley Hall and introverted Andy Roberts, were unable to withstand the roller-coaster ride of unpleasant factions and cliques which threatened to dissolve the years of unity. Worse still, the West Indies lost at home to Australia, only drew in England and were beaten by Kenya in the World Cup just over a year ago.

Crisis? Pretty much so. Enter the development programme, the new president, the new sponsorship and, perhaps best of all, CLive Lloyd and Malcolm Marshall as manager and coach, two tough, intelligent and revered modern cricketers, to crack the whip.

Not that cracking the whip was their style. The masterstroke has been the softly, softly appraoch to the rehabilitation of Lara. It has taken a year and another loss to Australia but the team are together again and Lara is beginning to step on the gas.

He wrestles with the endless adulation and having to play too much cricket, but the prospect of leadership excites him and I believe he should be appointed for the short series against Sri Lanka next month.

The team are short of an opener, a wicketkeeper of true international quality and, most demonstrably, a spin bowler. There are young ones about, plenty in the Red Stripe Cup in fact, and Rawl Lewis, a 22-year-old leg spinner, has been 12th man in all four Tests of the Indian tour.

This four fast bowler thing, though still effective on a dodgy pitch - witness Perth and Barbados - is old hat and perhaps when the West Indies bow to the idea of a more balanced attack they will signal to themselves that the immediate past is forgotten, the present embraced, the rehabilitation over, the crisis averted.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)