WICB summon Lara and Lloyd (4 February 1999)

4 February 1999

WICB summon Lara and Lloyd

Tony Cozier in Capetown

Captain Brian Lara, manager Clive Lloyd and coach Malcolm Marshall have been summoned by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to a debriefing meeting on the troubled South African tour in Antigua next Thursday, two days after their return home.

A committee has been appointed to meet with the three and report back to the WICB's meeting in Antigua February 22, WICB chief executive officer Stephen Camacho confirmed from his St John's office yesterday.

"The Board wants to find out what went on in South Africa," Camacho said. "This will be a chance for a committee to sit down with captain, manager and coach, to listen and to ask questions and to report back to the Board."

Chairman of selectors Mike Findlay will be one of the committee members as will Camacho himself.

Camacho pointed out that Lara, Lloyd and Marshall would all submit their usual written reports on the tour and called next week's session "simply investigatory".

"Obviously there was a lot that went on in South Africa and the Board is anxious to get an early first-hand report from those who were in charge," Camacho said.

In the light of the 5-0 whitewash in the Test series and defeat in the seven One-day Internationals matchup where the home team now lead 4-1, the captaincy has been a fervently debated topic. Camacho said it would be decided in the normal way.

"The selectors will make their recommendation of captain for the Australian series to the Board and the Board will either ratify that recommendation or decide on a choice of its own at its February 22 meeting," Camacho said.

When Lara was first proposed by the selectors in place of the incumbent Courtney Walsh prior to the tour of Pakistan in 1997, the Board turned them down and retained Walsh. They eventually replaced Walsh with Lara a year ago prior to the home series against England which, under his captaincy, the West Indies won 3-1 in the Tests and 4-1 in the ODIs.

Lara's world, never stable since it was turned upside down by his phenomenal record-breaking feats in 1994, has been thrown into further turmoil here as one defeat has followed another. His own contribution with the bat has been well below his known standards and, finally, he has been put out of action by a chipped bone above the right wrists.

His body language and batting form throughout the series -he averaged 31 in the five Tests against an overall 51 previously-and his frank revelations afterwards of disunity in the ranks revealed a troubled captain at the helm of a troubled team.

He has been clearly distressed by the outcome of his first overseas series as captain-and one of such significanceand his injury has made him an even more remote figure.

He did not travel to Tuesday's ODI with the team and was absent from the pre-match warm-up session and discussion on the ground, even though his damaged wrist would not have precluded his participation. He is, after all, still captain.

Throughout the tour, they, like everyone else in the Caribbean, have heard stories of rifts in the camp, of the captain's indifference, of the lack of spirit and much else. Initially, and predictably, denied by Lloyd, many were confirmed by Lara following the Fifth Test defeat.

This is not the Lara of the 277 in Sydney or of the 375 of St John's nor the captain of his initial triumphant series against England last season. He has seemed weighed down by his responsibilities and inability to turn around either his own form or that of his team. He was seldom seen in the company of his players away from the cricket grounds. He indulged his passion for golf and his infamous inattention to punctuality has not changed.

On the field, the ready smile and the unmistakable Viv Richards swagger that were the previous hallmarks of his self-confidence were absent. Instead his posture was mostly of a distracted young man, arms folded across his chest, rarely animated.

Yet, whatever his many faults, Lara remains the focal point of West Indies cricket, an extraordinary talent capable of lifting an ordinary team by the sheer power of example.

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