Lequay: West Indies Board in denial

In a media release, the long-standing cricket administrator, who stepped down as TTCB president last November, has rebuked the WICB’s claim that "the only thing wrong with West Indian cricket are the recalcitrant players and the obstinate Players’ Association."

Lequay has strongly called for a restructuring of the WICB, with the intervention of the regional Govern-ments and, by extension, the West Indian public. "After six years with a bloated administration, four Presidents (Patrick Rousseau, Wes Hall, Teddy Griffith and Ken Gordon), three managers (Clive Lloyd, Ricky Skerritt and Tony Howard), four captains (Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams, Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul), five coaches (Malcolm Marshall, Sir Viv Richards, Roger Harper, Gus Logie and Bennett King) and millions of US dollars in expenditure related to players development and team preparation, I ask what has changed?" Lequay asked

The evergreen Lequay reiterated a point he made in a local newspaper on January 1999, following the humiliating 5-0 Test series whitewash and 6-1 one-day series beatings in South Africa.

"The West Indies cricket team, as a unit, is unsalvageable, and we must write off this era as an uncollectible debt," Lequay stated.

"Our devastation and humiliation is complete," he added.

"At the turn of (the 20th) century, cricket earned for us our independence, our freedom and international recognition as a West Indian people, but at the start of the (21st) century we find ourselves back in the colonial era. "We are Third World and second-class," he stated.

"We have sunk to the lowest depths, but I expect business as usual. I will be surprised if anyone takes responsibility for the grievous sins of omission and commission committed against the West Indies people, not the president, not the chief executive, not the selectors, not the tour management, not the captain.

"They will perhaps excuse themselves by telling us that the debacle is an aberration created by a unanimous misunderstanding," Lequay stated then. "We have three Test batsmen, two unfit bowlers of international stature and a wicketkeeper.

"A Test team comprises 11 players, not six," he said. "While we were winning we failed to plan, while others were planning to win," Lequay stated.

In light of the South African disaster, Lequay raised the point that in the short term,

The WICB need to appoint a panel of professionals to hold de-briefing sessions with each member of the present team immediately on their return and after analysing the data recommend those who should be considered for selection. "In the medium and long term, we have to stop the recycling of the players and start to build from the ashes of destruction."

"Territorial boards will have an extremely crucial role to play in the planning process as they are tributaries from which the talent pool must be refilled and must be competent to satisfy the international demands on players," he suggested.

He recommended that each board must come up with its own development plan, which could be looked at by a specialist committee of the Board.