West Indies try to bring back Walsh

When last week it looked like the West Indies Cricket Board had finally rid themselves of captain Brian Lara and his deputy Carl Hooper, they launched Operation Get Walsh.

Confident that for all his charisma, Lara would not be able to rally the forces behind him, they determined, not unnaturally, that his predecessor was the man for the job.

And the man for the job of persuading him to accept was his compatriot and current president of the Jamaican Cricket Board, Jackie Hendriks.

Hendriks went off to whisper in Walsh's ear while the West Indies selectors Michael Findlay, Joey Carew and Joel Garner (in absentia) were instructed to select replacements for the two dislodged batsmen. They chose Keith Arthurton and Sherwin Campbell.

Sources told the Sunday Express that just as Lara and WICB president Pat Rousseau rarely see eye to eye on matters, so there is little love lost between the star batsman and the president of the WICB's Cricket Committee, Hendriks.

Fuel was added to the fire that smoulders between the two during the recent Red Stripe Bowl Finals in Jamaica. Hendriks was the chairman of the emergency committee that eventually decided to reverse the decision of the match referee and award victory in the second semifinal to the Leeward Islands. Lara, the Trinidad and Tobago captain, is said to have told Hendricks that they (the JBC) were about to "make cricket history again after the Sabina fiasco. Now you guys are overturning the match referee's decision".

It is not certain whether that incident carried any weight in the decision to appoint Hendriks for the task of finding Lara's replacement. What is certain is that the former West Indies wicketkeeper was given an attractive package of incentives to sweeten the deal for his countryman.

Hendriks's approach was to be on the grounds of patriotism: If Walsh was feeling guilty about disloyalty to team or captain, he was to say, he need not worry; he could maybe expect a call from the Prime Minister of Jamaica which would help him clear his conscience.

He need not worry about any threat of a too brief stint at the helm either--the Board was prepared to ban Lara for a minimum of six months, more than enough time to start building a new West Indies team.

Indeed, they were prepared to offer Walsh a guaranteed two-year period of service. There would also be an increase in the salary he would be offered as captain.

But Walsh was not to be tempted. What was more, the team declared its unequivocal support for Lara, leaving the WICB with little choice but to implement Plan C.

Rousseau is expected to arrive in England today shortly to negotiate with the players.

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