Windies V Poms Second Test

[Donny]

Lara's tardy arrival is hoisting of white flag

By Tony Cozier in Port of Spain - Cricinfo


Even the DJ in the Trini Posse Stand, where Brian Lara commands a status of deity among the youthful, gyrating fans, got it wrong. "A big welcome for the West Indies captain," he urged, taking it for granted that their hero was the figure emerging to, once more, come to the rescue of his struggling team.

Yet the burly figure marching out to the middle was not the captain but the wicketkeeper, Ridley Jacobs, whose usual position is No 7. It was, even to many of Lara's devoted countrymen, the official hoisting of the white flag by a West Indies team humiliated by its all-out 47 and defeat in the first Test in Jamaica and its collapse in the first innings here.

When Lara still did not appear at the dismissal of the vice-captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan, after lunch, sending in Shivnarine Chanderpaul instead, there was no other interpretation than that it was a shameful shirking of responsibility by the captain of a team in desperate need of his leadership and his feared batting.

Mighty West Indies teams under the direction of Clive Lloyd established a policy that became the prototype for all others, of targeting the opposition captain on the sound supposition that once the head is destroyed, the body would also wither.

Lloyd left a succession of broken captains in his wake. England followed it to the letter this series. They are as aware as every Test side that Lara is the hub around which the West Indies' batting is built. The effectiveness of the plan is reflected in Lara's scores: 23, 0, 0 and 8.

Lara's official explanation for the shift was that it was "tactical". The line would have been that Lara needed to come to the crease when the ball was softer and the bowlers wearier. It would be the chance for him to regain his form and confidence.

These were limp reasons for what, however it is dressed, was a cop-out. His cheap dismissal simply compounded it. Nothing could save his side from another heavy loss, the repercussions of which are likely to be drastic.

[Donny]

Well, Charlie is certainly copping a pasting.

I probably wouldn't have posted the above article if it was written by anyone else but seeing it was from a West Indian, Tony Cosier, it warranted inclusion.

I have made it clear I don't think Lara is a leader. On his day, it's hard to think of any batsman who looks better. He is a wonderful fieldsman, especially in the slips but he was found wanting in his first stint as captain and even more so, now.

He has, too often, gone for the soft option when it comes to where he should bat. Some time back (about a year ago) he stated he wanted to regain his status as the world's number 1 batsman.

Thw world's best batsman would bat at first drop, especially in a team like the Windies present one. Batting lower down to 'rescue the team' or for some other 'tactical' reason is missing the point, by a long way.

In the field, he never looks inspirational. The other players must be able to look to their skipper in the tough times to lift their spirits. As I've jokingly said to my dear friend, Anthony (couragous cloke), he often looks like he's just wet his pants.

Now I'm not saying it'd be easy to captain the present Windies team, far from it. Undisciplined batsmen, lax fielding and an attack Geoff Boycott says wouldn't bowl his mother out but Charlie is just not the man and they are in big trouble if Sarwan is the next best.

Perhaps someone closer to Windies cricket's internal machinations could enlighten us regarding the Hooper/Lara rift but there lies the key. I'm not sure if Hoopsy stood down when Lara regained the captaincy or vice versa.

Like Ian Botham, Brian Charles Lara needs to be captained, not captain.