Do too many coaches spoil the team?

DOES anyone at Cricket West Indies (CWI) know why the West Indies cricket team is playing so poorly and why they’re so inconsistent? Are the selectors, team management and coaches aware of the shortcomings?

It seems that knowledge and how it should be applied to cricketers, is the missing link in West Indian cricket.

It doesn’t appear to matter to those responsible for the performance of WI teams. No one on the executive of CWI understands the game, and therefore cannot really be in a position to reduce the level of ignorance that emanates from those prestigious offices.

One never hears about a coach being fired, or administrative officers being replaced, or selectors being released, no matter how many matches are lost, and, even worse, how WI approach the game on the field of play. Hence WI teams are just rolling along, regardless of their poor performances and dismal record.

Moreover, CWI tends to accept their position, regardless of the lack of spectators attending the games, without any idea of the reasons why it’s happening.

Of course, anyone who thinks about the game can tell them that supporters, whatever the sport, don’t come out to cheer losing teams.

It is CWI who is responsible for the team’s reliability and efficiency against its opponents on the field of play.

The delegates of CWI must let their public know why the performance is so low from West Indian islands that have always been proud to produce cricketers who are popular worldwide as individuals, yet cannot produce consistently as a unit with positive intent.

The majority are offered contracts for T20s throughout the world of cricket.

So it’s not because of lack of talent. Nevertheless, something is missing, and it is up to those who govern WI cricket to come up with the answers to improve standards.

There is no excuse. No one forced the executive of CWI to take up executive positions to lift West Indian cricket out of the doldrums.

However, signs of improvement are not forthcoming. Because this is happening, fewer and fewer spectators are going to matches. They will still be interested in the scores and what’s happening at the venue, but they will not attend the games because of the risk of feeling embarrassed and sometimes humiliated.

There is always a lot of talk from coaches and officials about the team and the expectations before a ball is even bowled. However, there are the same old excuses for poor performance or bland promises for the next game.

It’s clear nothing is being done in terms of extra practice, properly done, with lengthy bowling spells and extra-long knocks of batting in the nets. Constant catching and energised running, picking up and throwing, could assist in improving the fielding.

Every department needs work, and it is only when discipline is acquired, by a great deal of practice, that the cricketer will be ready for international cricket.

If he’s doing all that work and is still so inconsistent, then I’m afraid the coaches don’t understand the intricacies of the game.

Because the players have proven that they’re physically talented, if appropriate practice is carried out and they’re still not doing well, one can surmise that perhaps they’re not up to international standard. However, that is not true, as, watching them play at times when they’re producing, West Indian cricketers always look like world-beaters.

What long, regular hours of practice under expert supervision accomplish is great concentration, which is the bedrock of the international sportsman. The mentality produced by that discipline, coupled with the natural ability to bat, bowl and field, produces invincible cricketers of a very high standard.

Let’s look at the thinking of CWI. There’s a two-Test series against Bangladesh starting on November 22. They have chosen 15 players for the two Tests.

To support those players there’s a management team of ten.

Apart from the financial cost of this, it is totally unnecessary. Actually, it could create friction in an overcrowded changing room. There’s a head coach in Andre Coley, plus assistants for batting, bowling and fielding.

In that management team there are also a physiotherapist, a strength and conditioning coach, a masseuse, a team analyst, a media officer, and the team manager.

My question is, how incompetent are coaches, to need four for a two-Test series? WI batsmen, bowlers and fielders need help, although there are four coaches!

But is their practice professional enough?