The saga of West Indies captain has taken another twist with the news that the deadline for naming the team’s captain to face Steve Waugh’s Australians has now been extended to Tesuday.
First the selectors met on March 21, but no release was made by the West Indies Cricket Board prompting several unconfirmed theories.
Then last week a release from the WICB’s public relations consultant Saunders and Franklyn statedf that the decision will be made this week-end at the retreat of the WICB directors.
However sources yesterday told Stabroek Sports that the deadline has now been extended to Tuesday and that chairman of the selection panel Sir Vivian Richards will depart this morning for Barbados.
Richards was in Guyana to watch the first two days of the Guyana versus Jamaica Carib beer Challenge Trophy semi-final.
Sources tell Stabroek Sport that Richards has not changed his position which is in favour of incumbent skipper Carl Hooper being retained for the post.
Hooper has done a much better job than the man he replaced Jimmy Adams but the failure of the West Indies team to reach the Super Six stage of the 2003 World Cup tournament in South Africa has not gone in his favour.
He has also been criticised for his captaincy during the World Cup which his detractors say has not been attacking enough.
But Richards is expected to argue that having Hooper continue in the position is a better option rather than replacing him with another interim captain.
But of greater importance at the moment is the issue of who to groom as Hooper’s deputy once the directors show faith in the chairman of selectors and ratify his nomination of Hooper.
Names like Jamaicans Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels, Guyana’s Ramnaresh Sarwan and Darren Ganga of Trinidad come readily to mind but none have had the opportunity of leading their respective territories at the senior level.
Meanwhile, sources disclosed that West Indies champion batsman Brian Lara has thrown himself into the fray and is willing to accept the captaincy again.
But the directors are unlikely to choose Lara who has had several run ins with authority the latest being his outburst against then coach Roger Harper during the World Cup. Lara, brilliant player though he is, is more of an individual as compared to Hooper who is more of a team player.