The first word: Problem partly in our heads

So where do we go from here in West Indies cricket?

Fingers have been pointed everywhere and at almost everyone as to why we are struggling in the international arena.

As we continue to do some much-needed soul-searching, the enormity of our slump clearly suggests that no one player, coach, manager or selection policy is the problem.

It's a combination of these factors and much more.

The quality of the pitches, especially in Trinidad and Guyana (low and slow), have reduced the fierce cutters and drivers and hostile fast bowlers we are yearning for.

What is even more worrying is the plain lack of basic knowledge from the recent crop of players. Sir Viv Richards says he is worried by the lack of common sense exhibited by some of the players in New Zealand, and Gordon Greenidge expressed a similar view when I spoke to him at Kensington Oval Saturday afternoon. Both seem to be concerned with the know-it-all attitude and the inability to grasp certain basic instructions.

Cricket is a thinking game and it is clear that many of our players are not working on their technical flaws. Campbell, Chanderpaul, and Adams have been around long enough to correct their basic and obvious flaws by now. Inner resolve is one of the ingredients required to take us through one of the most difficult periods in our history.

Lara summed it up best after the latest inept performance in New Zealand: "I think people would be happier if we were giving 100 per cent. I don't think we are giving 100 per cent. Every one of us is hurt and there is no one to blame but ourselves."

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