Bryan Davis wishes for Windies revamping

NOTED CRICKET scribe and ex-Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies opening batsman Bryan Davis is expressed his six wishes for the revamping of cricket in the region, in light of the recent failures of the Test team in India and New Zealand.

On his latest column on the Catholic News, Davis mentioned, “feeling very frustrated over the West Indies cricket team after performances that left me close to tears and wishing I had never heard of the game of cricket, I’ve decided to share some cricket wishes for 2014.”

Admitting that his views “will likely be neither here nor there with the hierarchy”, he emphasised that “it would be remiss of me to not allow myself the mental therapy of jotting down my personal views for the improvement of West Indies cricket so I could at least enjoy a good night’s rest once more!”

Firstly, the former TT and WI right-handed batsman hopes “that the West Indies Cricket Board not allow the person who suggested a “bonding” and psychological exercise for the West Indies team in the state of Florida – a week before travelling to India to take on the might of that country’s cricketers in a Test farewell for Sachin Tendulkar – to make any other cricketing decisions, as he could be a danger to all future plans.”

Davis stated, “no cricket was played on this useless exercise and videos on ESPN showed the boys doing outreach programmes with scores of young children, visiting some place called Sea World, and then enjoying a basketball outing, presenting some very tall basketball player with a souvenir cricket t-shirt with autographs of the Windies players.”

The Queen’s Park Cricket Club administrator also hopes for an improvement in the selection panel, especially in their criteria used to pick Windies teams.

“As it stands, Clyde Butts, Courtney Browne and Robert Haynes have all got too close to the wood to see the trees! Their selections do not make sense, e.g. their selection of a team to tour New Zealand which had been beaten twice in less than three days in India, in addition to which this tour was to take place immediately after that series.”

He continued, “the blooding of new players by these gentlemen leaves a lot to be desired. Consider, for instance, their decision to leave out a young promising fast bowler like Jason Holder in favour of Tino Best – and there are plenty other examples. They ought to hold a press conference to answer questions.

Many years ago this was the norm. Too much is at stake for selectors to be a law unto themselves. They must explain!”

From a tactical standpoint, Davis is keen to see a “coach who will account for the team’s performances.”

He elaborated, “it is disheartening to have one who keeps making inane statements like ‘I want more from the batsmen!’ It goes without saying that we all want more from our batsmen and bowlers but I would like to have a coach who will inform us of his plans for improvement, one who is wise enough to educate his home fans about the problems and solutions.”

And, about the contentious position of the team’s on-field leader, Davis stressed, “I would like to see a captain who commands a place in the team.”

He went on to stay, “he must be confident enough in his own ability to instill desire in his players and to be motivating and reassuring at all times. He should be a mature cricketer and be knowledgeable about the game in order to utilise proper strategies and clever tactics. In other words, a captain who knows what he’s doing and puts it into practice.”

Fifthly, Davis has a wish “for players who are self-motivated, passionate, unselfish, and with the necessary pride and deep desire to win. Cricketers who will not have to wait for a coach’s advice but who will be self-sufficient enough to practise often, learn the game and be their own man – not wait around to be ‘babied’ when things are going wrong.”

Sixthly, he hopes to see the trimming down of “the size of the management party accompanying the team on tour. There are now 10 persons travelling with a West Indian touring team of 15! This is ridiculous! Too many cooks certainly spoil the West Indian broth!”
PUBLISHED IN TRINIDAD NEWSDAY