'We must get our act together fast' - Ganga

"Human relations, man management skills, these are very, very essential in today's world in any field of work ... having that compassion, having that closeness towards your employees. And the same goes for West Indies cricket."

Daren Ganga's experiences on the recent West Indies tour of England have convinced him even more that the different parties in Caribbean cricket have to get their act together. Fast. "Everything is very dysfunctional, disjointed with the Board, the players, the management team, the selectors," Ganga said. "Everyone needs to co-exist in harmony."

Appointed vice-captain for the Test series, Ganga found himself having to carry the full burden of leadership from the second Test of the four-match rubber following the shoulder injury which ended Ramnaresh Sarwan's tour. He presided over a 3-0 loss.

Ganga admitted to having "a lot of new challenges, some of which I wasn't able to deal with properly". Asked about those challenges, however, he declined to elaborate, saying only, "It's off-the-field issues."

Ganga, though, was more forthcoming with what needed to change for the team to improve. "There is no consistency," he said about a set-up in which there was a new trainer, and manager Michael Findlay joined a team in which David Moore, formerly Bennett King's assistant, was on his first official tour in charge.

"New trainer, new manager ... if you keep having that happen over and over again, there will be no consistency in anything that you are doing. There is no building of any sort of respect, any sort of trust, any sort of foundation to move forward."

By his own admission, Ganga's performance in his new role was not helped by the controversy back home between the executive of the WICB and the selection panel over the captain for the limited-overs section of the tour, in which Chris Gayle was eventually given the nod over Ganga.

"It definitely contributed to the way I performed," he said. "The stats would show (the difference) from the first Test match to the very next time I batted as captain. It was a distraction for me personally and by extension [to] Chris Gayle and the rest of the team. It was unfortunate. I can't really comment on what exactly transpired. But it did not really help our cause in salvaging some pride in that Test series."

Asked, however, whether the relationship with his opening partner had been affected by the brouhaha, Ganga replied: "Not at all. Myself and Chris spoke frequently during that entire dilemma. We both shared similar views with regards to what was taking place and what the repercussions were going to be."

Omitted from the Twenty20 and ODI squad which went on to draw and win those respective series under Gayle, Ganga left England with a Test series average of 15.00 and his international career once again under a cloud.

"I'm not totally worried about it," he said about the technical problems which resulted in several leg-before dismissals. "It's something that has plagued me throughout my career. England saw a deficiency and exploited it."

His struggles at the crease have also convinced Ganga, still keen for the challenge of leadership, to make a change. "What I've realised, it's very difficult to open the batting and lead international sides. The mental energy that is expounded when you lead teams, especially in the longer version of the game, is difficult. If I am to lead West Indies some time in the future, I would want to see myself batting lower down the order."

Ganga is also pressing for a change in the approach by the West Indian authorities to spin bowlers. He wants to see them regularly in the Test team. "Talk of no quality spinner holds no credibility when these are the guys who are coming out with the most wickets in our regional competition year in, year out," he said.

"We again failed to realise the great need for a spinner in our bowling attack. If you look at the entire Test series in context, on two occasions we made in excess of 600 in total and we were still unable to win a Test match, hence the need for a spinner, for variety; hence the need for taking that risk in an attempt to bowl teams out twice to win a Test match."