Sobers: Something missing from WI mix

The West Indies cricket team is just not getting it right.

These are the thoughts of Barbados and West Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers. With the regional side being fed a three-nil whitewash at the hands of England in the recently-concluded ONEINDIG One Day International series, Sobers took the opportunity to air his views.

Speaking during an interview with members of the local, regional and international media on the sidelines of the Hero Caribbean Premier League Player Draft on Friday, the long-time record-holder said he was at a loss when it came to the divide in performance between formats.

“To be honest, I haven’t really watched a lot of Twenty20. Fifty overs, I have watched a bit of that and I would say that I believe that we have a lot of good young players coming up. I don’t know what motivates them at this stage, but as a cricketer myself, I always felt that when you are playing for your country it doesn’t matter what cricket you’re playing – you should always be motivated and trying to do your best. Whether it is Test cricket or Twenty20. You shouldn’t have to pick out one from the other.”

Going on to say that the series left a lot to be desired, Sobers mentioned that he thought it came down to a lack of application and not a lack of skill.

“I don’t know if our team are really settled in to Test cricket at that level, but, watching them in these last three games, they certainly look out of all sorts. The English probably played well and you can’t take that away from them, but I don’t think our boys show the kind of talent that I have seen, particularly in Barbados, watching Barbados play against Trinidad and Jamaica and the like. You see a different kind of cricket and I haven’t seen any real application of our players when they go in to bat.”

Follow Root’s example
Bringing attention to what he said was a failure to properly adapt to the situation by the Windies, Sobers said that there were quite of players who were able to get the job done.

“I think the English are more adapted and I think that they are more concentrated and they seem to be well on top of their game. They seem to work situations out very well. I love Joe Root! I think he’s a wonderful player and I think he works it out. You can see when he goes in and pulls a ball, he tries to get himself in and he’s got all the shots in the world. When he gets on top, he’s on top and I think that that is what we need to see our West Indian players doing – getting in, understanding the situation, not taking too much risks early, particularly if the bowlers are bowling well or if the wicket is doing anything unusual. Just try and work it out just like how Joe Root and a lot of other players do,” he said.

When asked how he thought he would fare in the shortest form of the game, the National Hero said there would be no difference for him.

“I enjoy playing any game because Test cricket to me was like Twenty20. I never really looked at Test cricket as serious, it was another game. And if I played county cricket, I bat the same way. When I played any kind of cricket, I try to retain the same type of status as I would do in Test cricket. We must remember that we don’t start at Test cricket, we start at a lower grade and if we can build ourselves to Test cricket, it means that we’ve got something that we can work on and we can maintain and I think that is the most important thing.”

Sir Garry sees no reason for outside coaches
An off-kilter question came in on his thoughts surrounding the employment of extra-regional coaches for the West Indies, and Sobers said that although he was not averse to it, he saw no reason why it should be so.

“I have no real dispute about it because if you figure that the ones you have at home are not good enough, because that is the only reason that you should bring in outside players to do coaching – because you figure your own do not have the same skills as the overseas players. It is up to the selectors or the managers or the coaches or the country, president or whoever brings the coaches in, to look at the situation and say ‘You know, our boys would probably react better to a player from outside the West Indies than they would react to their own players.

“But I don’t see any difference and I think that we have just as good coaches here. Why they bring them in from overseas has always confused me,” Sir Garry said.
(MP)