Caribbean connundrum: Frustrated Simmons hopeful of a West Indies revival
The West Indies have slumped into an abyss which they never knew existed. Years of tussle against the WICB has left the players desolate, depressed, and to be honest, indifferent to the state of affairs now.
Two of its marquee cricketers were in Melbourne today but were not at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) training with the team. Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo appeared for the Melbourne Renegades in their clash against the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL), while Andre Russell reportedly hit a ball out of the stadium while practicing before a game for the Sydney Thunder few days earlier.
As these stars light up the BBL, it’s all but darkness lurking around the national side that’s struggling to call itself a Test team, something that has left the coach Phil Simmons both frustrated and heartbroken.
Departure of the marquee players
That Bravo has retired, Gayle is struggling with his back, and Russell feels that his knee wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressures of Test cricket, are all true, but one most also mention that Bravo wasn’t picked for a Test side in more than four years, and Russell finds it financially inviable for him to play just for the West Indies.
If you say that the Caribbean side has just too many potent T20 stars who can feature in the ludicrous domestic leagues to explain their departures from the Test side, you would be wrong, as New Zealand has such a set-up too – in Brendon and Nathan McCullum, Corey Anderson, Kane Williamson – but they have successfully retained their players.
"I'm totally frustrated," Simmons said. "It's enjoyable to see Andre Russell bowling at 140 clicks, and Bravo hitting three or four sixes, and Chris back in it. It is frustrating that we don't have them here playing the Test series.”
“It's up to our administration and our bosses to find out how is the best way that we can get these guys on the pitch.”
Not that it is easy, but Bravo has gone on record to say that he remains committed to West Indies cricket, but he is unhappy with the way players are dealt with.
"We're all committed to West Indies cricket, but sometimes with the way we've been treated over the years, sometimes we second guess and ask ourselves why should we actually fight with West Indies' cricket [administrators] when the rest of the world are opening their hands for us?"
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Bravo thinking that way, as after the slump in the relations in October 2013, when an ongoing tour of India was cancelled, instead of building bonds of trust with the players, Bravo and Kieron Pollard were sacked from the team and were denied a World Cup game.
Russell- a promise unfulfilled
While Gayle and Bravo, both in their 30s, can offer WI more experience than time, a relatively young Russell, 27, still remains a strong contender for the position of an all-rounder – a position that former captain Clive Lloyd finds him perfectly fit for when he called Russell one of the best all-rounders in the world.
Lloyd however also feels that the players don’t feel responsible enough to represent the country. "It's such a waste that we have a guy who could be a great cricketer who is now not thinking of playing both formats," Lloyd said in the 2015 New Year's Lecture in Cape Town.
"We have contracts, probably not as exorbitant as others, but they are getting good money. It doesn't seem playing for our country is paramount where these players are concerned."
The World Cup winning captain has arrived in Melbourne to act as a mentor for the team, and to guide its 24-year-old captain, Jason Holder who has been entrusted with an enormous job of handling a side under depression, and at the same time, make a name for himself as a cricketer.
"Off the field he's getting help from the coaching staff," Simmons said. "I'm sure he's getting help from someone like Clive Lloyd. I'm sure he's speaking to him, one of the greatest captains we've had.”
The body language problem
As astounding as the presence of a legend in their midst sounds, the visitors’ show in Geelong didn’t speak much about their revived self-belief, despite Marlon Samuels, Kriagg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood and Denesh Ramdin spending ample time at the crease.
Fast bowler Jerome Taylor was found gazing at the stands with his back towards the field of play when he had to be alerted about the ball coming his way.
"Oh boy," Simmons said when questions related to players’ body language arose from media after the training session during the press conference.
"We keep doing that every day. It's part of it. Your body language always tells something to the other team.”
While acknowledging the criticisms that the team had been facing since the Hobart humiliation, Simmons didn’t forget to mention the hard work that the team has been putting in since Hobart.
“I know all the criticism we received before coming here has hurt. All I can hope is it pushes them as much as it pushes me to push them to do the work and pushes them to do well on the field."
On Samuels and Taylor, Simmons said that the team had been talking to the players and making them realise that they are an important part of the team. He apprised the young captain, who has had to bear an unusually heavy burden.
“I think he has the right attributes and he's coping with the pressure really well."
The road looks gloomy for the West Indies, and the Aussies are in no mood to relent. The West Indies would be hoping now that with this boxing day Test and the end of the year, their problems also find a suitable end.
It looks highly unlikely, though.