ANDY ROBERTS talked about a witch-hunt against West Indies bowlers.
He was referring to Shane Shillingford, who has been banned because of a suspect action, and Marlon Samuels, who had some restrictions placed on his bowling.
As a partisan supporter, you may agree with the West Indies fast bowling legend but should the buck in this one really stop at the international match officials?
Notwithstanding this is the second time both have been cited for issues with their action, we should be focusing on their problems and how best to find a solution and not on who else should be sanctioned.
Cat luck, as they say, isn’t dog luck.
Besides, it is an open secret that even at the regional level Shillingford and Samuels have been under scrutiny for years but as far as I am aware, nobody in authority did anything about it until the international lens zeroed in on them.
These are cases perhaps where public embarrassment could have been avoided if interested parties had stepped in early when the first whispers were made about them.
After all, it would only have been a matter of time before outsiders discovered what we pretended not to notice and make a stir about it, especially when the bowlers started to take a bundle of wickets as Shillingford did in the home series two years ago against Australia.
And yes, if there’s a witch-hunt, something like that could be used as the catalyst to draw attention to the situation.
All the same, the onus was on us to point out the flaws in the bowlers’ action and find corrective measures to bring them in line with International Cricket Council standards.
Apparently, we didn’t when we had the conclusive evidence to do so and did nothing about it.
So, I find it self-defeating to attempt to point fingers at others when we had the chance to make a difference.
Obviously, I’m not saying that other international bowlers should be allowed to throw and go unpunished, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have problems of our own to solve.
West Indies image
If we continue to deceive ourselves on matters like this, we will merely assist in hurting the image of individuals and West Indies cricket by extension.
Generally, we keep producing players with many technical flaws but we allow them to flourish and then castigate them once their weaknesses are exposed at another level.
I think the coaches have to put their hands up in this regard.
It begins at the primary stage because we are more focused on winning than working much harder on best habits when it is easier for children to practise them.
If youth pick up bad habits from early, why can’t they learn good ones as well? Perfect practice paves the way for better execution, no matter the stage of one’s development.
In the embryonic stages of coaching youngsters we must make it a priority to focus on proper training as much as on competition. If there isn’t a balance, we will encounter more woes in international sport when they can be avoided.
Did anyone think of remedial work for the actions of Shillingford and Samuels during their formative years either parochially or regionally?
Or did their handlers conveniently lose sight of any kinks because they were successful among their peers?
Just look at the price Shillingford is paying now for the second time in two years to get your answer. It is going to be very hard for him to come back and bowl with any confidence.
He will always be conscious that he’s been closely monitored; not to mention the comments he’s likely to get from his rivals in the middle.
We have to give him all the support that might have been lacking from the start of his career.
Andi Thornhill is an award-winning, experienced freelance sports journalist.
andithornhill1@gmail.com