Happy riddance, Stuart Law
WEST INDIES cricket, for those who do not know, or for those who refuse to admit it, has hit an all-time low. In fact, it has been so for a very long time.
Once upon a time, and for a very long time, the West Indies used to be everybody’s second team, and it used to be the team that everyone wanted to play against or to witness in action.
Over the years, however, things have changed, and disappointingly so. Today, the West Indies are at or near the bottom of the rankings and in the company of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, newcomers Ireland and Afghanistan.
In fact, Cricket West Indies, right now, are in India playing against India, the team that just lost a series 4-1 against England and the number-one ranked team in the world, or rather, the number one team less players the quality of Shikkar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, and Hardik Pandya.
As the champions of the world up to 1995, and as the unbeaten champions for 14 years up to that time, this, on top of the embarrassment of playing a short twoTest series, is a slap in the face as India save many of their best players for a bigger fish on another day. To make matters worse, based on their performance in the first Test, the Indians have not missed a beat even though the West Indies were short of two of their better bowlers.
Listen to Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Indian player and son of Vijay Manjrekar: “This is really warm-up game or a preparatory match for the Australian tour, and I would have liked another senior batsman like Chetester Pujara rested to have a look at one more fresh option apart from Prithvi Shaw.
“Pujura will get quite a lot of runs against the West Indies. By playing him against the West Indies, is Indian cricket gaining anything?
“As far as Ajinkya Rajane and Kannanur Rahul are concerned, they need to play every game (against the West Indies), for they are out of form.”
CAUSE FOR CONCERN
The level of West Indies cricket, even without Jason Holder and Kemar Roach, should be a cause for concern, especially because the poor performance has lasted for so long, especially now that the team has been shown little respect by the arrogant India, and especially now, despite slighting the West Indies by playing a team way below their best, that India are still some distance ahead of the West Indies.
The recent resignation of Australian Stuart Law as head coach of the West Indies team, however, has had little effect, or so it seems, on the rulers of West Indies cricket, who, surprisingly, appeared disappointed at Law’s decision to walk away.
Although it may not entirely be his fault, instead of thanking their lucky stars for getting rid of Law so easily after nearly two years of nothing to show from his presence, the board president, Dave Cameron, the director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, and not surprising, the CEO of Cricket West Indies, Englishman Johnny Graves, all expressed disappointment at his decision to go.
The real disappointment, however, was when all three, to a man, and including captain Holder, commended Law for doing a wonderful job.
For those who do not know, or maybe for those who do not care, Law’s tenure was a total failure.
PARLOUS TIMES
When Law arrived in February last year, the West Indies were going through some parlous times: they had lost to all the big teams – to Australia, England, India, and South Africa; they had lost also to Pakistan, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka; and they had dropped from number one to number eight in Test rankings while bouncing up and down, mostly down, in limited-over rankings.
During Law’s tenure, the West Indies have played six Test series, and they have won only two, against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, one ranked number nine and one ranked number 10 and both accustomed to those lowly positions.
In eight limited-overs contests, the West Indies lost them all. They had to play in a qualifying tournament for the 2019 World Cup and after losing to Afghanistan and finishing second, they just about qualified.
The experience of the world T20 champions has been almost as bad, losing to Afghanistan more than once and losing almost as much as they have won since being crowned champions.
The present ranking in the three formats shows the West Indies at number eight in Tests, number nine in 50-overs, and number seven in T20 cricket.
Law may have improved the fitness of the players, but otherwise, based on the players’ general performance, he achieved little or nothing.
It is, therefore, difficult to appreciate the reason for the board president Cameron, to say, publicly, that “hopefully, we will get a comparable coach to step in”, and that “he has done a lot for West Indies cricket and he will certainly be missed by all”, is, it seems, going overboard in his praise for the Australian.
I wonder what Cameron, Adams, and especially Graves would have said had the West Indies drawn a series, or better still, defeated the likes of Australia, England, India, or South Africa even once during Law’s tenure as coach.
They may not have said anything. They may have simply given him the freedom to choose his successor, which, obviously, would not be a West Indian.
BYE BYE
Bye, bye Law. Thank you for probably trying your best. Like all the other foreigners before, however, you did not achieve anything, except to say, after every series, like all the others in charge, how talented and hard-working the West Indies players are.
Hopefully, now that Law has gone, the West Indies will once again employ a West Indian, who, in spite of Graves’ presence, and who, apparently, is in control, and with the help of the players, can lead the West Indies renaissance through its three formats.
The West Indies, once the champions of the world and once producing some of the world’s best batsmen, bowlers, fielders, captains, and an ICC president, now parade, 90 years after their first Test match, foreigners as CEO, head coach, batting coach, bowling coach, and fielding coach around the world and for all to see.
The Windies, despite the name, is a “national” team. It deserves to be headed, in every respect, technically and tactically, and with respect for our forefathers, and for national pride, by West Indians, who are now, and have been for some time, more than good enough to chart their own destiny.