Lara wrong choice says Lequay

This is the firm view of veteran sports administrator Alloy Lequay who was commenting on the decision to re-appoint the 37-year-old Lara at the helm of the regional Test and One-Day International teams on Wednesday.

It will be the record-breaking left-hander’s third stint in the high-pressure job and comes in the twilight of his career.

“In all seriousness Brian Lara should not have been asked to captain the West Indies cricket team again especially so since Ramnaresh Sarwan was the vicecaptain for the last two seasons,” said Lequay yesterday.

The former president and chief executive officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board said Sarwan should have been elevated because soon the WICB would again be looking for a new captain when Lara decides to quit.

Lequay said he has nothing personal against Lara.

“But let us be reasonable and think out the position. Sarwan, when he was acting as vice captain, must have learnt something from the West Indies captain and also from opposing captains.

“And now that he is playing at home and against a weak Zimbabwe team he would have acquired some more skills to play against the Indians later this year before gearing up for the World Cup next year. By this time he would have been a great deal more equipped to lead the West Indies in 2007,” said Lequay.

The experienced administrator said the West Indies Cricket Board demonstrated that they had no vision for development. He said they were presented with a Developmental Plan by the WI Cricket Developmental Committee in 1998 which they rejected.

“Now they are seeking another Developmental Plan from Clive Lloyd, former captain, but the fact of the matter is clear— the WICB should have had a Leadership Succession Plan in place so they would not have had to go around the place looking for someone to replace Shivnarine Chanderpaul,” said Lequay.

He felt strongly that Daren Ganga and Richard Kelly should have been named in the squad to face Zimbabwe who was also announced on Wednesday because they both performed well in the Carib Beer Series regional tournaments, and they are both young.

Lequay said he was not advocating their inclusion because he was parochial but because they did well enough to deserve some form of consideration by the regional selectors.

“What is noteworthy is that Ganga had leadership qualities while Kelly was very outstanding with both bat and ball,” said Lequay. ‘Where there is no vision a people will perish,” Lequay said waxing philosophical.

The outspoken sports administrator has spent more than 50 years contributing to the growth and development of table tennis and cricket in Trinidad and Tobago apart from being involved in the political arena for many years.