West Indies cricket facing familiar questions as New Zealand loom

MACHEL ST PATRICK HEWITT: Cricket in the region is facing a major overhaul but that will not prevent scrutiny on Jason Holder and his team in the two-Test series against the Kiwis

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“Of the 194 Test matches played by West Indies in the past twenty years alone, we have lost 104, and won only 41, or 21%. In the same period we have won only 32% of the 434 ODI’s, and 45% of the 124 T20 Internationals we have played at home and abroad." - Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerrit – Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture series November 16 2020

Is there any sports team that possesses a wider gap between fan expectation and on-field reality than the West Indies Cricket Team?

Beset by decades of administrative mismanagement, knee-jerk hirings and firings and historically poor player-board relations it is no wonder that current CWI President Ricky Skerritt has made it his mission to rip up the playbook and implement a radical new approach to running West Indies cricket.

Twenty years of dysfunctional leadership off the pitch has bred a culture of failure where every sole Test match win is treated as a turned corner rather than an exception to the rule.

As West Indies head into their Test series against New Zealand a familiar script will likely be written, their chances will be talked up irrespective of their record away from home and should they lose the series an unforgiving public will demand answers.

None of this is meant to demean the current set up or squad of players across the red and white ball teams. There remains an abundance of talented West Indian cricketers in all formats of the game. Whether that be the two captains Kieron Pollard and Jason Holder or upcoming stars like Nicholas Pooran and Alzarri Joseph.

Yet to expect this generation of cricketers to turn the page overnight is an exercise in folly and futility. Jason Holder has led the Test side admirably for five years but their win percentage stands at a meagre 31%.

No matter the level of talent available to any sports organisation it requires coherent leadership and clear strategy throughout the organisation for success to follow. Only in exceptional circumstances can a sports team buck that trend. 

For the West Indies this task is made all the harder due to its unique geographical position as an assortment of islands all with their own territorial boards and no guarantee of them singing from the same hymn sheet. 

^{West Indies showed plenty of potential in England - but results are now demanded}

In the said same 20-year period, West Indies cricket has in the words of President Skerrit, “hired 15 men’s team head coaches, most of whom spent very little time before they were relieved of the job”, he continues “CWI spent a Quarter Billion US Dollars on our players, coaches and full-time staff during the past twenty years. This 250 Million US Dollars does not include the cost of travel, sustenance, and housing our many coaches, players and administrative support people when on tour. So CWI has undoubtedly spent heavily on our teams, without any sustainable improvement in performance”.

In the face of such evidence, Skerritt has chosen to move away from his predecessors who often pointed accusatory fingers at coaches and players and he has instead begun a process that he hopes will signal better times within two to 10 years.

Heralded as the West Indies Cricket First philosophy and underpinned by a series of ground-breaking internal reviews. Skerritt and his vice president Dr Kishore Shallow have implemented a process of transparency previously considered anathema to the organisation.

From team selection system reviews, Business Situation Assessment and Financial Operations Review, implementation of a Coaching Education Plan through to the much anticipated Wehby governance reform.

Cricket West Indies is trying their best to implement organisation-wide reform alongside strategic decision making in order to create excellence off the field. It stands to reason that without that prerequisite it is impossible for consistency to follow on the field. 

Sometimes referred to as ‘Cricket first’ Skerritt’s mission states that “If CWI’s structure and systems are coherent, and aligned with the principles of ‘Cricket First’, performance will automatically improve”.

There is no getting away from the fact that when it comes to world cricket, West Indies are very much amongst the have nots of the game. The financial realities even before Covid-19 struck had West Indies trying to punch above their modest weight. 

That they often administratively speaking pressed the self-destruction button made that task all the harder.

But if territorial boards can buy into the winds of change sweeping through Cricket West Indies and work together with CWI and private sponsors to fix the game at the grassroots level. A change will come.

^{Kane Williamson's side are a daunting prospect on home soil}

If Cricket West Indies can successfully embed the coaching education programme to develop outstanding West Indian coaches at all levels of the game. A change will come.

If head coaches can be appointed with clear remits and work towards specific ICC events without the constant spectre of being sacked over them. A change will come.

If CWI can find the funding to ensure regional age-group competitions take place as well as regular overseas tours for emerging players. A change will come.

These changes along with the many others proposed by President Skerrit offer West Indies cricket a clear pathway forward. It isn’t one that is dependent on the quality of players coming through as the natural talent will always be there.

The men's team has been weighed down by the shadow of the all-conquering 80s and early 90s equivalent but to expect them to reach even a fraction of those heights again required this root and branch overhaul.

And while the fruit may not immediately bear for Holder’s generation, in years to come many will remark that their very limited success was a small price to pay for the re-establishment of West Indies as a top-tier team in world cricket.

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