Tour should have been cancelled, says Lloyd (17 February 1999)

17 February 1999

Tour should have been cancelled, says Lloyd

The Trinidad Express

West Indies manager Clive Lloyd is suggesting it was a mistake to go ahead with South Africa tour after the players' protest and chaos which preceded the trip, the Weekend Independent newspaper has reported.

A players' dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over pay and conditions delayed the West Indies' arrival in South Africa and the discord created, Lloyd believes, placed his side at a significant disadvantage.

"It was a bad start, and quite frankly what we should have done was either tell the players 'we will sort it out later', or just cancel the tour," Lloyd told the Weekend Independent.

"No other country would have gone on with a tour after all the lost playing time and discord at the beginning of the tour," Lloyd noted.

Lloyd, the Weekend Independent said, is not enjoying his role with the current West Indies team.

"I must have aged over ten years on this tour, it has been so stressful, it is unbelievable, it is just disappointing, and worse is (that) we know how much the people of the West Indies must be so hurt," Lloyd told the Weekend Independent.

Lloyd's contract is due to expire in October 1999, after the Australian tour to the Caribbean and the World Cup in England and he told the Weekend Independent: "while there are no plans to leave before my term is up, there is so much happening that I am not happy about.

"I am not enjoying this at all, it is disheartening to witness all that we have worked for over the years fall away so swiftly without a fight. In my report I will make mention of the need to start over, and I will listen to what the West Indies Board can tell me and what plans they have for the future. I know there are a lot of things to be done," he added.

Lloyd said that he would be happy to remain with the West Indies team, "but maybe there is the need to expand the position of the manager and there is a need for an assistant manager and a doctor on tour."

"Also it is hard to be with a team when you have no involvement in the selection process and you don't even know how fit the players are, or what are their weaknesses and strengths, we need to be more involved," added the former West Indies captain.

Lloyd and Marshall apparently have a list of preferred players they would like to have for the Australian tour.

"We have in our minds the nucleus of the team that should be used against Australia, it is a good mix, but we can only make recommendations, and wait to see if they are heeded," Lloyd told the Weekend Independent.

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)