If Sarwan is out, should Gayle lead Windies?
Jamaica ’s impressive win over Trinidad & Tobago in the final of the KFC Cup regional 50-over championship last Sunday in Barbados, has placed the issue of leadership back at the top of the agenda. Led by Chris Gayle, who has now proven that he is a good manager of men and knows how to make key tactical decisions, Jamaica regained respect from so many people who always felt that man for man, the island had the best cricketers in the region, but for a multiplicity of reasons, have failed to triumph in the 50-over championship since 1999.
The final would inevitably come down to which captain, Gayle or Daren Ganga, would demonstrate sharper on-field skills and earn their team the crown.
After Jamaica was standing on shaky ground on 103 for five at one stage, the team rallied to post 230 all out off their 50 overs, having been sent to bat by Ganga.
When Jamaica appeared to be in trouble, I told a friend of mine at the time that the depth of the Jamaica team should take them to a score in excess of 200, one which they could defend, what with a bowling team that included Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Andrew Richardson and the find of the competition – Australia-born Brendan Nash.
As things turned out, Jamaica made it to 230 with Powell being run out off the last ball of the innings.
And as predicted, Trinidad & Tobago, despite a gallant knock of 64 by opening batsman Lendl Simmons, struggled to reach their target, falling eventually for 202, a deficit of 28.
Taylor, who took three for 37 and made 18 was named man of the match, but it was Gayle’s impressive usage of his troops that I believe highlighted Jamaica ’s overall game.
Gayle’s field placing was admirable and the bowling changes that resulted in the fall of crucial wickets were telling. Things must have been going well too, for Shawn Findlay to take two stunning catches off Nash and Richardson and place Jamaica in the driver’s seat.
Regular West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan was injured for the final four of the KFC Cup, and his team Guyana was beaten by Jamaica in the semi-final.
We still do not know whether or not Sarwan will be fit for the tour of South Africa starting in December, so as part of the planning, alternative names must be placed on the table.
Here we see Ganga’s name being called again and somewhere in the mix, Gayle’s has been thrown in.
By now we should all be aware of the terrible decisions made by the West Indies Board in recent years that have led to a watering down of the quality of West Indies cricket. Only last week, the Board defied all logic and bypassed all Caribbean applicants when it appointed Australian John Dyson as West Indies coach.
Dyson is already in the Caribbean and has been doing the right things in trying to get the people of the region to like him and buy into his philosophy.
But the immediate decision to be made is the selection of a cover for Sarwan and here is where I believe that the Board would have no option but to give Gayle the job.
If fact, based upon his last tour of England, Ganga should not even be considered for selection, let alone a factor in the process of choosing a captain.
If Sarwan is fit, the Board should appoint Gayle as his deputy. The two seem to work well together and the West Indies need people who co-operate with each other and can get the job done.
There should be no going back to the days when Brian Lara captained the team and some of those who served as his deputy found themselves in seas too choppy to swim in.
Sarwan for example went through sheer hell as Lara’s deputy and that badly affected the West Indies on the field of play.
Suggestions have been made for there to be separate captains for the various forms of cricket played by the West Indies .
Sarwan, according to one suggestion, should lead the Test team, while Gayle should captain the 50-over and Twenty/20 sides.
Judging from what has occurred in recent series, I am inclined to run with the view that Gayle handles the pressure better than Sarwan does in the limited-over version of the game, and therefore a decision to split the roles may not be a bad idea.
The World Twenty/20 Championship in September brought that out in a wholesome way. Sarwan, who led the West Indies, was clearly not back to his best, in terms of his physical fitness and his cricket. He was not as sharp in the field as he had been, and he never got going with the bat.
Sarwan will also have to go down in history as the first West Indies captain to lose a match to Bangladesh, when that shocker occurred in the Twenty/20 Championship.
So, there is reason for the West Indies Board to take stock and look around for the best options.
For now though, Gayle will be basking in the glory of Jamaica’s fine performance, a true demonstration of sound leadership and managing to get the best out of the players.
