Shivnarine Chanderpual has never been a talker.
The slim, diminutive Guyanese, in his 17 years of playing for the West Indies, has usually shied away from the camera. In fact, regional fans would sometimes make jokes about his lack of oratorical skills. But those same fans ate their words last week.
The Shivnarine Chanderpaul that called out the West Indies Cricket Board, its CEO Dr Ernest Hilaire, and coach Ottis Gibson was a new Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
It was an angry Shivnarine Chanderpaul. It was a man bent on letting this region’s eight million fans know exactly what was happening with himself, as well as senior players Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan.
But Chanderpaul’s comments on the Line and Length Network interview, ironically the same day he was recalled to the team to play Test cricket, is a clear indication of just how confused and calamatous West Indies cricket remains.
And this has nothing to do with picking sides.
Chanderpaul was right, and he was wrong. So was the board. It was clear the Guyanese batsman is an extremely frustrated sportsman. It was also clear the WICB simply can’t get things right.
No wonder former bowling great Andy Roberts has called for heads to roll at the very top of the organisation. The biggest problem with the WICB right now is it has been unable to prevent its dirty linen from hanging on the line for everyone to see.
Caribbean cricket fans deserve to know what’s happening inside the board room regarding the sport they so love, but only some business needs to reach the public.
What is clear, at least to me, is that the WICB has a serious problem with trusting the players it oversees. When those players are under contract, it’s like pulling teeth to try getting information. When they are dropped, discarded, removed, replaced, or what ever word fits better, then things are completely different.
In Chanderpaul’s case, he was extremely articulate in relaying a number of problems he sees in the way of regional cricket at the moment. No coach, or manager for that matter, has any right to be interrupting the innings of a player, especially one the calibre of Chanderpual, sending out messages and telling him how to bat. Phil Jackson never told Michael Jordan how to play. Jordan already knew how to do that. What Jackson did, was motivate his charges, and set out a clear strategy for the team. The result was six NBA Championships.
Sir Alex Fergusson doesn’t tell Wayne Rooney how to play. What Sir Alex did, was motivate the wealth of talent at Manchester United, set out a strategy to win the Champions League and Premier League titles, then sit back and watch it all unfold.
What the WICB has to do, is stop interfering and tinkering with the stuff on the pitch. What the WICB needs to do, is motivate the players who wear maroon, set out a comprehensive strategy, and ensure it is accepted by the people who actually play the sport.
And it’s not like the WICB doesn’t have a strategy for West Indies cricket. They do, but the problem is it’s not working at the moment, because the senior players – as Chanderpual so eloquently explained in his interview last week – need to be respected and more involved.
To the WICB’s credit, they have been exposing more young players in recent times. Devendra Bishoo, Kirk Edwards and Kraigg Brathwaite can attest to that. But it all starts to collapse when they start meddling into things that should be left on the pitch.
Chanderpaul, by explaining that previous coaches never interfered with his batting style or strategy during an innings, introduced a dynamic that had never before been realised. West Indians, by nature, have always been critical of the players’ performances, directly based on the fact they made a lot of money. But they never knew players, especially one with the experience of Chanderpaul, were being made to go through such torture as receiving messages while batting.
They never knew players were being called into a dressing room, or a boardroom, and being asked to retire from the sport when so much is left in the tank.
And it’s not just Chanderpaul. Fans have been laughing their heads off the past two weeks, when they can turn on their television sets and watch Chris Gayle hammer balls all over stadiums in the Indian Premier League (IPL), instead of at Kensington Oval or Sabina Park.
Now Gayle is not the easiest player to understand, with his enigmatic behaviour and tweets from his phone somehow overshadowing his talent, and the fact that he still has plenty to offer the West Indies.
What the board needs to do, is sit their senior players down, look them in the eye, treat them like adults, and let them know in no uncertain terms, what West Indies need, not want. Should the board do that, then things should improve.
What the senior players need to do is stop airing their dirty laundry in public, work hard in training, develop mental toughness, and deliver the goods. The back and forth has to stop, or West Indies cricket will crumble.
Australian cricket has problems; we just don’t hear about it much. Indian cricket has problems; we just don’t hear about it much. The same applies to England, Pakistan and South Africa. So why is it that every week, regional cricket fans have to be subjected to back and forth interviews, releases from the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), and responses from the WICB?
Why can’t we all just get along?
Maybe we can, but we just need to work much harder at it.