If the level of disunity we heard about in New Zealand is true, it suggests that the jobs of the management of West Indies cricket could be on the line.
From where the ordinary observer stood, the impression was given that management had lost control of the dressing room and once that happens, you lose control over everything else.
It becomes increasingly difficult to take action against anyone who steps out of line, especially where there’s a clique that can undermine the work of the coach and the captain in the middle.
This hurts the team and even as unpredictable and inconsistent as West Indies have become, you start to question the manner in which some matches were lost.
West Indies were bowled out twice in less than a day in consecutive Tests against the Kiwis and it appeared to be a total surrender on each occasion.
That’s how teams respond when morale is low.
That is what happens when management has lost the moral authority to inspire and motivate disheartened troops.
We shouldn’t forget, though, that a similar thing happened on the preceding tour of India so the fruits of discord that bloomed in New Zealand could have been sown elsewhere. By then we saw a team that was merely going through the motions while interpersonal tensions seemed to be building.
A noted outspoken announcer was chided by some last week when he spoke graphically about a couple of alleged incidents involving the players in New Zealand.
He spoke with such authority you sensed that his sources were impeccable; otherwise the information he shared publicly would certainly have landed his station in trouble if there was no truth in his revelations. To the best of my knowledge, nothing of the kind has transpired nor has anyone denied what he declared.
Plus, we know that Darren Bravo left the tour for personal reasons – an occurrence rarely associated with West Indies players.
Something down there wasn’t right.
In the previous two and a half years of the Ottis Gibson, Darren Sammy, Richie Richardson reign, there was little to suggest that there was any great discord in the camp to shake its foundations to the extent we now perceive.
The team appeared to be turning the corner, recording six successive Tests victories and, of course, winning the T20 World Cup. You can’t achieve such milestones without unity. It was an obvious strength as management tried to restructure the discipline and work ethics among the squad.
Only the insiders know for sure why this structural adjustment has gone off track but it won’t stop outsiders from speculating and some of it will inevitably border on the malicious.
Honestly, I sometimes wonder if any form of disunity had its genesis in switching captains for the One-Day International team.
I wonder if there was a subtle message being sent to Darren Sammy about his future as overall captain even if he retained leadership of the other teams.
If so, I wonder if somebody had earmarked ODI skipper Dwayne Bravo to take over in full in the very near future.
I can’t be sure but I don’t think it is far-fetched to entertain the thought that some seeds of discontent were sown when the action was taken to remove Sammy as ODI captain. Typically, he hasn’t shown any visible discomfort with the move because he has been giving his usual all-or-nothing efforts under Bravo’s leadership, but this doesn’t mean he didn’t feel slighted or that players in his corner were happy either.
Therefore, we could have a team that’s split down the middle because of the change.
Pride in one’s performance is hardly a saviour when a house is divided against itself.
If there are indeed very deep divisions in the team, steps have to be taken expeditiously to renew the integration process.
Given his comments after the defeat in the third Test, it would seem that Sammy is resigned to losing his pick as Test captain and you have to wonder if others in similar positions of authority are contemplating a similar fate as the St Lucian.
After New Zealand, I believe that if some don’t walk away, they will be pushed.
• Andi Thornhill is an experienced award-winning sports journalist.
