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Tony Cozier slams Lara

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
0

Lara in the spotlight

West Indies skipper not greater than game

Tony Cozier

July 4, 2006



Brain Lara reflects after the defeat in Jamaica © AFP
For anyone else in such a position of trust, responsibility and leadership, Brian Lara's third term as West Indies captain would now be at an end. Instead, he has announced that he himself will decide if and when he goes, not an acquiescent board that has twice beseeched him to return.

Whatever his frustrations, Lara's repeated rantings in recent weeks against selections that did not accord to his opinions and pitches that did not take his fancy were out of order and unbecoming of a revered and experienced cricketer recalled specifically to provide guidance to his young successors.

They might have deflected attention away from his own tactical deficiencies on the field but, more critically, they acted as a distraction from the task at hand. Regrettably, they simply gained in intensity until the festering boil burst on the last day of the final Test at Sabina on Sunday.

Lara chose the globally-televised post-match presentation ceremony to embarrass West Indies cricket by repeating his assertion that his team had been undermined by "bad pitches and bad selection".

He elaborated at the subsequent media conference, adding the slanderous implication that the pitch at Sabina Park had been purposely prepared to suit India.

He was so consumed by such irritation that, while batting in the morning in an effort to win the Test, he pointedly turned in the direction of the ground staff after Harbhajan Singh spun an off-break past his edge and cynically applauded on his bat.

It was a cheap gesture that demeaned one of the finest batsmen ever to grace the game. His dismissal soon after was not unexpected.

Lara later told the media he would "revisit" his position as captain once the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) named its selectors at a meeting in a couple of weeks' time. The message was clear. If they did not satisfy him, he would quit-as he has done twice before.

That he did not do so immediately tells a story. He has had his way with the WICB so repeatedly that he is confident it will once more submit to his ultimatum. It might even appoint him sole selector and, in the bargain, supervisor of pitches. After all, its new president, Ken Gordon, persuaded the great and the good of West Indies cricket three months ago to plead with him to once more come to its rescue.

And where was president Gordon while this latest crisis was brewing? What, indeed, was the WICB's response to the captain's shots fired across the bows of its selectors and its ground authorities? The answer to the first question is that the president was in Germany observing the football World Cup with reference to next year's cricket equivalent in the Caribbean.

The answer to the second is that the WICB has uttered not a word. It has been even more rudderless than ever since it has been without a chief executive officer after Roger Brathwaite jumped ship on April 30.

It is no wonder Lara can receive a letter on June 29, dated May 28, advising him he has been appointed a selector. That it was probably a typographical error was typical of the incompetence that has contributed to the decline of our cricket and to the reversal of the maxim that no man is greater than the game.
Wow
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
tooextracool said:
cant blame him on the issue of pitches though, all those pitches in the series were absolutely atrocious

But was it the proper forum for his grievances? Same selection crap happened to Tendulkar (and a lot of other indian captains) when he was captain (selectors worked against him), but he didn't lash out like this.
 
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GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Well what d'you expect, mighty Tendulkar is superior to Lara in every way 8-)
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
GeraintIsMyHero said:
Well what d'you expect, mighty Tendulkar is superior to Lara in every way 8-)

No, actually...Lara is better against spin bowling. 8-)


And Lara has a better voice.
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
silentstriker said:
But was it the proper forum for his grievances? Same selection crap happened to Tendulkar (and a lot of other indian captains) when he was captain (selectors worked against him), but he didn't lash out like this.

Oh Really, For selecting who ? Abey Kuruvilla, Nilesh Kulkarni, Sairaj Bahutule etcc ?

The fact is that (just like Indian selectors)Tendulkar himself wasn't above the regional crap and one can see it how he pressed for some really mediocre Mumbai/maharashtra players.
 

Benny2k1

U19 12th Man
GeraintIsMyHero said:
Well what d'you expect, mighty Tendulkar is superior to Lara in every way 8-)
Totally agreed soon as anything is said against lara you get people saying "sachin would have done it differently"
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
Benny2k1 said:
Totally agreed soon as anything is said against lara you get people saying "sachin would have done it differently"

Yes, but the real question is: Is Coziar correct or was lara justified in doing what he did?
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
tooextracool said:
cant blame him on the issue of pitches though, all those pitches in the series were absolutely atrocious

Actually, I think it was the opposite. I think the selection was bad, but the pitches were OK. I mean we weren't far away from having results in three matches out of four, and definatly would have had one in two matches if it hadn't rained. I think the pitches like the ones in Jamaica aren't necessarily bad for cricket.

You need class to play on them, as Dravid showed. Even Sarwan and Ramdin especially did great in the second innings. I think its refreshing that a pitch would give help to bowlers instead of batsman once in a while.

The selection on the other hand, was terrible. Why was Dave Mohammad dropped? Why did they include so many batsman when it was clear the captain thought you already had too many?
 

tooextracool

International Coach
silentstriker said:
But was it the proper forum for his grievances? Same selection crap happened to Tendulkar (and a lot of other indian captains) when he was captain (selectors worked against him), but he didn't lash out like this.
Lara might have taken it to the extreme, but he certainly was right in asking for a pacy pitch, and what he got in return was certainly disgraceful.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
silentstriker said:
Actually, I think it was the opposite. I think the selection was bad, but the pitches were OK. I mean we weren't far away from having results in three matches out of four, and definatly would have had one in two matches if it hadn't rained. I think the pitches like the ones in Jamaica aren't necessarily bad for cricket.

You need class to play on them, as Dravid showed. Even Sarwan and Ramdin especially did great in the second innings. I think its refreshing that a pitch would give help to bowlers instead of batsman once in a while.
i dont have problems with the sabina park pitch, but in terms of home advantage the pitch that he got was certainly not what he should have got.
As far as the other pitches are concerned i think they were all pretty flat with nothing in them for the bowlers, and it was only some very poor batting that resulted in 'nearly games'
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
tooextracool said:
Lara might have taken it to the extreme, but he certainly was right in asking for a pacy pitch, and what he got in return was certainly disgraceful.

Fair enough, I just dont know if you want to embarass your country board like that in the press. Thats just going to create enemies.
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
tooextracool said:
i dont have problems with the sabina park pitch, but in terms of home advantage the pitch that he got was certainly not what he should have got.
As far as the other pitches are concerned i think they were all pretty flat with nothing in them for the bowlers, and it was only some very poor batting that resulted in 'nearly games'

I'm not so sure about that. Most of the pitches were good batting pitches on the 1st day, but after that lots of bounce and LBW's and such came into play. The only exception I think was the 3rd test pitch, where it still remained a good batting pitch on the 5th day.
 

roseboy64

Cricket Web Content Updater
Him being in the West Indies gives the implication that he shouldn't be white. Not sure if he was born here though. Probably was.
 

kvemuri

U19 12th Man
Benny2k1 said:
Totally agreed soon as anything is said against lara you get people saying "sachin would have done it differently"

Actually he (Sachin) did do differently, thats the reason he lost his captaincy not once but twice and has an abysmal captaincy record. Maybe if he had been more vocal with the Indian selectors onset it might have been different, but then Indian team selection policies have been governed with the idealogy "Fair Shot For All" where in guys like Prashanth Vaidya, Bantu Singh, Tinnu Yohannan who do not deserve a team cap have earned it and the few who should've deserved it, Abey Kuruvilla for one, got it when their prime had left them.

I can understand Lara's frustration's and i see him being vocal with his objections being a positive, in fact if you compare Lara's captaincy in this series with Chanderpaul captaincy in the series against NZL its really a telling factor, as Lara was able to put some of his own want to win will into the team while Chanderpaul was like a deer got caught in the headlights.

Having said that there is a time and place to voice your frustrations and emotions, Lara choose the right time but wrong place to voice them. Should've been a closed room with the WIBC rather than a press conference.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Lara maybe right in what he said (I dont know) but he was NOT right in saying so to the world media. What purpose does THAT serve?

Bringing up Tendulkar everytime Lara does something right or wrong is childish to say the least irrespective of how Tendulkar would do it.
 

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