West Indies cricket: the more things change ...

By Orville Higgins

One could be forgiven for thinking that the West Indies team didn't want the first Test to last until yesterday's final day because, like most of us, they wanted to watch yesterday's opening World Cup game between Brazil and Croatia. Despite the last-wicket entertainment between Sulieman Benn and Shane Shillingford, it was another pathetic display. Surely, the time has come for some serious soul-searching.

One has to start with the coach. I was among those willing to cut Ottis Gibson some slack, but the truth is that this team isn't showing that they are improving. Either Gibson isn't doing a good enough job in imparting whatever technical instructions he can to these players, or they are just not listening.

West Indies were walloped by New Zealand when we last played them away, and if the Kiwis beat us in a Test series in the Caribbean, the coach shouldn't be able to keep his job.

What is ironic about the embarrassing loss is that the board insisted on a camp prior to the Test match. Missing this camp is the reason why Sunil Narine wasn't eligible to play. After what we witnessed at Sabina Park, one has to wonder what exactly do they do at these camps?

Do they actually do any technical work? The same problems remain. Nothing has changed. Chris Gayle continues to struggle with those balls just outside off stump. Marlon Samuels continues this habit of being stuck in the crease early in his innings. Kirk Edwards plays with a stiff top hand when playing defensively. Kieran Powell gets some starts and then loses concentration. Shivnarine Chanderpaul continues to be as resolute as ever, but runs out of partners and ends.

WHERE'S THE LOGIC?

What's the point of having your best batsman constantly coming not out? If the coach can't convince Shiv to bat at least one spot higher, the coach doesn't have the influence that he should have. If Shiv refuses to bat higher, sack him. It's as simple as that.

I don't know that in any other team sport, one player can just dictate where he wants to play, if indeed that is what Shiv is doing. The World Cup is upon us now, and if Scolari tells Neymar that he must start in midfield and not up front, does Neymar really have a choice?

The coach, however, isn't the only one who should come under the microscope. Marlon Samuels must now be hard-pressed to keep his place. He averaged only 24.42 in seven tests last year and a double duck in the Sabina Test means that his run of bad form is continuing for a little too long for comfort.

Chris Gayle's star is fading, but he shows that he can still gut it out and graft, and in fairness, he did get two really good deliveries both times he got out. Darren Bravo is clearly one for the future, and so, too, is Kirk Edwards, but they are either very good or very ordinary. You also have to wonder if these players work hard enough on their own.

I don't mind the idea of playing two spinners, but was Sabina Park the correct track to play only two front-line pacers, especially if there is no genuine third-seam option? Sabina Park, probably more than anywhere else in the region, assists fast bowlers. If they play two spinners in Jamaica, they might as well play three in Trinidad!

The sight of Darren Bravo running in as first change with a fairly hard ball is one of the strangest occurrences in the history of West Indies cricket and should never be repeated! The thing was embarrassing. Darren Bravo would not be first change for the Manchester parish team!

Poor Denesh Ramdin must be wondering what he got himself into. Prior to the game, he was making all the right sounds. Now he, too, will realise that one sure way of spoiling your reputation is to take charge of the West Indies team.

So, yes, we have changed captains, we have instituted new rules, we have a fairly new president. And yet we still get beaten in four days by a team that we should be defeating. The more things change is indeed the more they remain the same!

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