West Indies: Things fall apart - Part II

The strife and turbulence that have engulfed West Indies cricket seem to know no end.

Emotional Antiguans have reacted, and in some cases over-reacted, to Sir Viv Richards being bypassed for the job of coach and Brian Lara has finally given up the captaincy he so cherished but could not handle.

It does not end there. Speculation is rife that Steve Camacho will lose his status as chief executive officer of the problem-plagued West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and may be demoted.

It is no secret that the West Indies are now strugglers in world cricket and even Mark Taylor or Hansie Cronje would be hard-pressed to work wonders with them. But it must be said that Lara has not been the motivator and strategist most of us thought he would have been.

Heavyweights such as Sir Garry Sobers and Clive Lloyd have argued in his defence that he was frustrated by the lack of support he was getting.

Lloyd added that Lara as captain probably felt that he wasn't getting enough support, particularly regarding team selection.

How much more support would Lara have wanted in team selection? Under him, a host of Trinidadians - Ragoonath, Roberts, Ramnarine, Ganga, and David Williams - all average cricketers, played at the highest level and were failures.

Lara has made the right choice. Seven losses in seven matches overseas is reason enough to quit.

So where do we go from here? Who will lead the sinking ship? It's an indictment on West Indies cricket that Jimmy Adams, not good enough to make the team on merit, is the front-runner.

Things have never been this bad.