Selectors to blame for Windies defeat

The West Indies failed to make the final of the tri-nation series with India and Sri Lanka which wasn't only staged in the West Indies, but which they started off with two wins.

Every time you feel the West Indies are making some kind off meaningful progress, they resort to playing the sort of cricket that continues to frustrate fans.

The West Indies selectors must be partially blamed in this series. They did get a few things right. Calling back Lendl Simmonds and dropping Denesh Ramdin were bold but sensible moves. However, while the selectors must be credited for those, other decisions, especially where captaincy is concerned, were bewildering.

Taking the one-day captaincy from Darren Sammy was a monumental mistake. I believe that if Sammy had remained skipper, it would have improved our chances and we may yet have made the final. Neither Dwayne Bravo nor Kieron Pollard demonstrated an aptitude for the captaincy.

Bravo's decision not to call back Sammy to bowl at the death in one game against India, when Sammy's previous eight overs had gone for less than 30, and all the other bowlers were being carted around, was one of the strangest captaincy decisions I have ever seen on a cricket field! Bravo himself insisted at bowling at the death, and eventually went for 57 from his seven overs.

If Sammy, as captain, had done that, insisting on bowling at the death and ignoring others who were having far better games, the entire region would be calling for his head. Bravo was spared the wrath of the public and commentators alike because Bravo is a well-liked personality, while Sammy is still struggling to be accepted as a genuine captain.

Donkey seh the worl' nuh level fi true!

India piled up 311 in that game, and in the final overs, the West Indies looked as ragged and clueless as they've ever been in at least the last five years. They were operating like a team that had completely lost its way. If we are honest, we would admit that they were looking like a team where the skipper had completely lost control, which is exactly what happened!

Looking on, I felt that this West Indies team didn't deserve to be in the final.

Sammy is still the Test and T20 captain, but not the ODI captain. That is perplexing, to say the least. In the last two years, it is in Test cricket that Daren Sammy has shown the worst form, certainly at his core function of bowling, and if he is not an automatic starter in any of the three versions, any casual observer with half an eye for the game would see that it is in Tests that his game has fallen off the most.

In the last two years, he is taking Test wickets at nearly 50 runs apiece! Retaining Sammy as Test captain is, therefore, inexplicable. Besides, how does one explain that the same man is captaining your longest and shortest format but not the format in-between? It defies logic. None of the other Test-playing nations have this kind of bizarre captaincy arrangement, and that is so for good reason.

At the latter stage, the choice of Pollard as stand-in captain was mystifying. Pollard's captaincy experience prior to this was absolutely nil, and in any case, his own place on the team must now be questioned. He just doesn't look like captaincy material at all. He has hardly demonstrated the discipline to see the West Indies team through difficult times, and has been one of the team's most impetuous and reckless players.

Pollard scored a grand total of four runs in four innings in this series, for an average of one! Three ducks in four innings! At this stage in my life, if I run a few laps, I would do better than this!

That this man was your stand-in captain must mean that the selectors had a temporary brain freeze. Cricket, like all other sports, is played largely between the ears. Sadly, in the brain department, West Indies continue to lag behind.

We will never be a decent cricket team unless we improve the thinking that goes into decision making. That, sadly, may not be any time soon.

Orville Higgins is a sportscaster and talk-show host. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.