An appeal to Sarwan and Samuels

THE EDITOR: Both of you can bat! Why not go to the crease and prove it always? The selectors count on you as experienced young players. The other youngsters will be glad to follow. There are others, but both of you must take some responsibility for the loss of the vital 2nd Test match of the 2003 series against Australia at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. You were among others who made gifts of your prized wickets. Perhaps a quote from Captaincy in Cricket would help you and the other members of the team: “......Early in the term of his captaincy at test level (first time around) Lara became perhaps the only champion batsman since George Headley (WI) and the only captain in international cricket who seemed to shoulder responsibility for the team’s score....” (Chapter 3, famous captains — page 32).

The West Indies can win the 3rd and 4th Tests, but the skipper must get needed help from the batsmen and bowlers. Concentration and Thinking the Game must be applied as part of the plans outlined in “Captaincy in Cricket!” Without Hooper, Chanderpaul and Jacobs on the team skipper Brian Lara has shown that the Aussies can be matched, but once again it was a veritable one man show in the second innings. The question arises — Why help sour history to repeat itself?

FYZUL HASSANALI
Lower Santa Cruz