SO, WHO DO you think will be “separated” from the West Indies Cricket Board first, Jimmy Adams or Stuart Law?
Assuming they are the personalities confirmed to fill the positions of director of cricket and head coach, as reported by Vinode Mamchan in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper last week, the track record of relationships between coaches and the WICB, former players and the WICB, in fact anyone with a backbone and the WICB, is that it’s only a matter of time before things fall apart.
And this is not merely about the Dave Cameron-led administration either. For West Indies cricket to have no fewer than 14 different coaches of the flagship men’s senior team over a 22-year period and a virtual revolving door of other prominent cricketing personalities in various capacities over the same time frame speaks to a structural deficiency in the organisation exacerbated by personalities incapable of recognising the importance of respecting roles and processes.
Look, just the mere fact that, having announced last weekend’s meeting in St Maarten as one in which the ratification of the head coach and the chief executive officer (and obviously the director of cricket as well) were prominent items on the agenda, and to have all of last week go by without any confirmation one way or the other, is reflective of the dysfunction in the entity responsible for the growth, development and efficient administration of the regional game.
There is ample evidence to suggest why no one with a track record of achievement in a coaching capacity will want to go anywhere near an official role with the WICB (a brief conversation with either Ottis Gibson or Phil Simmons will no doubt suffice).
And while it is expected that the compensation package must be attractive enough to lure suitably qualified candidates, surely there must still be the consideration as to whether any individual, not just Adams or Law, will be permitted the professional space to perform their intended functions to the best of their various abilities.
Until the confirmation arrives from the WICB, this is of course mere speculation. But it really doesn’t matter if Mamchan is on the ball in identifying the former West Indies captain, batsman and occasional left-arm spinner along with the Australian one-Test wonder and former limited-over specialist for these key positions.
Whoever they are and whatever their status in the international game, it will still boil down to whether or not they will be able to work with all the stakeholders, including the players who are themselves becoming increasingly polarised based on experience and opportunities in the many T20 franchises across the globe.
Fundamental, though, is working with the key decision-makers, and that is essentially the president, directors, executive arm and selectors of the WICB. Based on all the evidence of more than two decades, the short answer is “no”.
Maybe not right away, because the West Indies senior men’s team won’t be in action again until early March when England are scheduled to play three One-Day Internationals (two in Antigua and the last at Kensington Oval) before hosting Pakistan for a Test series that is expected to continue until mid-May.
But the stresses and strains typical of a dysfunctional relationship don’t take long to develop. It’s just a matter of how much the new appointees are prepared to take before the carefully worded “separation” media release is issued and another phase in the seemingly never-ending cycle commences.
It is especially interesting to consider how Adams, should his appointment to succeed Richard Pybus be confirmed, will operate as director of cricket. He comes across as nothing if not an intense personality, who gets very involved with any issue in which he has an interest. He doesn’t appear the type of individual to suffer fools gladly or to have his authority compromised by cricket politics.
Adams has seen it all as a player, from an influential Test debut in the historic first official encounter with South Africa in 1992 in Bridgetown to being discarded both as captain and player after less than a year at the helm following the surrendering of the Wisden Trophy in England and a 5-0 whitewash in Australia in 2000/01.
His sudden departure as coach of Kent in October after what were generally considered to be four progressive seasons with the English county fuelled rumours that he would be succeeding Simmons.
As director of cricket, though – if it does materialise as reported – his influence on the men’s senior team apart from broader developmental considerations will generate the greatest attention, given what were interpreted as highly contentious and repeatedly unwanted interventions by Pybus.
All of this is just idle talk anyway. Unless there is a drastic change in the modus operandi of the WICB hierarchy, Adams and Law will not survive their full terms.
Fazeer Mohammed is a regional cricket journalist and broadcaster who has been covering the game at all levels since 1987.