Calls for Lara to resign after West Indies debacle
By Simon Cambers
Guyana Chronicle
March 25, 2004
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, (Reuters) - The knives were out for West Indies, yesterday, as former players and local media demanded an immediate improvement following the seven-wicket loss to England in the second Test.
There were calls for Brian Lara to relinquish the captaincy, and a widespread urging of the team to become more professional if they are to dig themselves out of their present mire.
After the 10-wicket humiliation in the first Test in Jamaica, the West Indies management took the unprecedented step of publicly apologising for the side's poor display.
The resignation of team manager Ricky Skerritt on Tuesday, who was enraged by reports that four of his players joined a party at Sabina Park after that defeat, was another signal that all was not well within the camp.
In his parting note, Skerritt said West Indies must become more professional in all aspects of their approach to the game, a sentiment echoed by former wicketkeeper Deryck Murray.
``I have seen them bowling no balls in practice and batsmen making bad shots,'' Murray was quoted as saying by Trinidad's Daily Express newspaper. ``If they practise that way, they are going to do the same in the Tests.''
Murray suggested former Test batsmen like Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge, both of whom are West Indies selectors, should be brought in to work with coach Gus Logie to help motivate the team.
WORK ETHIC
Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop said the side was not without talent, but had to improve their work ethic.
``Look at our batting against Australia last year,'' Bishop said.
``It's not beyond the team to bat well. They just have to develop a culture of hard work and discipline.''
Colin Croft, another former fast bowler, led the calls for Lara to stand down.
``It's time for Brian Lara to fall on his sword,'' Croft told reporters. ``I am not saying the players will get any better but they can't become any worse.''
Former West Indies opener Andy Ganteaume was even more scathing, suggesting the players should be paid on performance only.
``I am sure they will improve if their income is reduced,'' he was quoted as saying by the Express. ``As it is now, they have no pride in their game. They are half-professionals, the half being that they get paid.''
The steady fall from grace of a team that dominated the game in unprecedented fashion from the mid-1970s to the late-1980s was highlighted by Lara's admission on Tuesday that the players and management felt embarrassed at their performances.
Trailing 2-0 in their four-match series, West Indies are on the verge of losing to England on home soil for the first time since 1968, with the tourists having already retained the Wisden Trophy they won in England four years ago.
The third Test begins in Barbados on April 1.