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Mr. Croft "The Spouter"

Mr Mxyzptlk

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This is an excerpt taken from a recent article by Mr. Colin Croft. It details why he believes Lara should not be captain.

"I also put it to all who would listen and really understand this question, if Lara is so inspirational to West Indies cricketers, how come there are ONLY two other players who hail from his country, Trinidad and Tobago, Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, in the present West Indies cricket team? This, mind you, when one of the incumbent selectors, Joey Carew, to some, "Lara's Godfather", has been there forever?"

Am I the only one who sees this as utter and complete rubbish? Not only is Mr. Croft making Lara accountable for the future of Trinidad and Tobago cricket, but he is basically disregarding any actual determining factor - such as talent, temperament, commitment - and putting all the onus on Lara to inspire cricketers to be world class. Apparently it's Lara's fault that there are ONLY two Trinidadians in the West Indies team. Let's just ignore the fact that those two players are the brightest prospects in the region right now, and that there are only 10 players aside from Lara in a West Indies cricket team, whilst there are six major regions represented within West Indies cricket.

It continues...

"Worse even is this. There is no-one else from T&T, at present, even close to making the West Indies cricket team now. Surely he could inspire his own countrymen, if not the rest of the West Indies' cricketers. None of this public rhetoric makes sense."

No Mr. Croft. None of your "facts" make sense or bear relevance.

Onward...

"When Clive Lloyd was made captain of the West Indies, many Guyanese were already on the team, on merit; Alvin Kallicharan, Roy Fredericks, Rohan Kanhai and Lance Gibbs. When I made my Test debut, there were already four Guyanese in the cricket team, all much more accomplished than even Lloyd might have been. Captaincy is not about runs or wickets, but of leadership, inspiration and man management."

How is any of this relevant? He goes on to state how many Bajans were on board when Sobers took over - even less relevant. Apparently Lara, who has not played steadily for, let alone captained the Trinidad and Tobago team in forever, is to blame for the lack of Trinidadians on the West Indies team. Apparently Lara failed to lead, inspire, and man-manage whilst not playing for the team. Indeed, even if he did play for the team consistently, I fail to see how it is Lara's responsibility to turn substandard/mediocre cricketers into those of Test calibre.

Again...

"I ask again. How come, if he is so influential and inspirational, that Brian Lara does not influence and inspire is own countrymen to aspire and play for the West Indies? No rhetoric can change that fact!"

I'm sure Lara inspires many from several countries around the globe to aspire to play international cricket. It's not his fault if they're simply not good enough. He doesn't pick any team.

I really can't believe Colin Croft gets paid to spout this nonsense.
That said, I don't believe Lara should be handed back the captaincy.
 

Robertinho

Cricketer Of The Year
Ferntree Gully, ahh. What a place.

Anyway - on the article... it really does sound quite stupid. "If he's so good then why do Trinidadian's only comprise 27.2% of the national team, when they are 16.6% of the talent pool?!"

Look at Ponting. Tasmania has nothing...
 

Robertinho

Cricketer Of The Year
dontcloseyoureyes said:
I left my car at Ferntree Gully station all day with the window down! hahaahahahahaa!
Let me guess, when you returned, the seats, upholstery, radio, steering wheel, etc had been stolen, and there was a medium size family sleeping in the boot?
 

Craig

World Traveller
If there were more Trinidadians were good enough - I'm sure they would be picked. I personally can't understand his point he is trying to get at or this makes any sense.

Mind you it hardly surprising seeing Croft making those comments given where he is from and that Lara hasn't always been Mr Popular there, even though Croft IIRC is a naturalised Trinidadian.
 

dontcloseyoureyes

BARNES OUT
Robertinho said:
Let me guess, when you returned, the seats, upholstery, radio, steering wheel, etc had been stolen, and there was a medium size family sleeping in the boot?
Hadn't even been touched! I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true.
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

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Croft has always been a vocal one when it comes to Lara. He's celebrated him for his personal achievements, but bashed him for everything else. At this stage I'm thinking he must be going senile, because he's not even making sense with his Lara-bashing anymore.

There are so many reasons why Lara should not be captain. Why is he stooping to pseudo-pedantry?
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
When I saw the thread title I thought it would be about that other Mr Croft; gobby taff "spinner" of recent vintage.

That said it does seem to be one of the more nonsensical rants I've read lately.
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
looks like he is taking out all his frustrations on the west indian decline on lara....totally petty, cheap and unwarranted....in terms of contributions to west indian cricket, he is not fit enough to shine lara's shoes....
 

garage flower

State Vice-Captain
Judging by the West Indian cricket websites and discussion forums I skim now and again, no-one really takes Croft seriously anymore. This article won't change things. Complete gibberish.
 

garage flower

State Vice-Captain
Craig said:
Welcome back GF.

First time in about a year?
Cheers, but yeah been involved in ALFTA and I've browsed Cricket Chat from time to time with the very occasional post. Will try to push on for the 1,000th post now.
 

FuzzyDuck

Cricket Spectator
Robertinho said:
Ferntree Gully, ahh. What a place.

Anyway - on the article... it really does sound quite stupid. "If he's so good then why do Trinidadian's only comprise 27.2% of the national team, when they are 16.6% of the talent pool?!"

Look at Ponting. Tasmania has nothing...
Rubbish, what about the Tasmanian Wolf? The Tasmanian wolf has been sighted during Pontings Test career, and I think it's obvious that Ricky captaining the country and it's re-appearance are not unconnected. What's Lara done? Nothing that's what! Not so much as a coelacanth spotted, lazy good-for-nothing Lara!
 

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