Last Update: January 09, 2023, 12:00 PM IST
West Indies will tour Zimbabwe next month. (AFP photo)
Andy Roberts even claims that the CWI is wasting money on hiring coaches – his argument is based on the assumption that in cricket, coaches do not have a significant impact on a team’s fortunes compared to other sports.
The West Indies men’s cricket team is struggling at the international level and legendary Andy Roberts feels coaches are being made scapegoats while the root cause of the failures remains unresolved. West Indies fail to progress to Super 12 stage of T20 World Cup last year and was followed by a 0-2 clean sweep by Australia in the two-match Test series.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) conducted an internal inquiry following the World Cup disaster and as a result head coach Phil Simmons announced he would step down from the role after the tour of Australia. Simmons’ exit was the latest in a series of coaches asked to step down after repeated failures that continued to haunt Roberts.
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“That’s Exactly What They’re Doing,” Roberts Jamaica Observer When asked if the coaches were being held responsible for the extravagance. “They have someone to blame, they are blaming the coaches. How come we didn’t make five changes to the One Day International (ODI) team? We lost 2-0 in Australia; How did we make five changes to the Test team? didn’t?”
“My emphasis does not depend on coaching. It depends on the players taking responsibility for developing their game to the extent that the coach has to make sure they go through their drills.”
Roberts even claims that the CWI is wasting money on hiring coaches – his argument is based on the assumption that in cricket, coaches do not have a significant impact on a team’s fortunes compared to other sports.
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“I feel we are wasting a lot of dollars on hiring coaches and our cricket still hasn’t moved up an inch. If it moves anywhere, it’s downwards,” said Roberts, who represented the West Indies between 1974 and 1983.
He recalled the time when West Indies won consecutive ODI World Cups in 1975 and 1979 without any head coach.
“We were all coaches,” said Roberts. “I remember wicketkeeper Derrick Murray coming up to me a few times and saying, ‘Look, you’re falling too far’.
“That is what you needed from someone who knows you, can analyze your game and come and tell you. You don’t want them to tell you two days later. You want them to tell you in the heat of the moment so you have time in which to try to fix it,” he added.
Roberts also thinks players need to develop from an age-group level to clarify their understanding of the game.
“We have to get it right and try to develop our players from under-15 to senior level,” he added. “They are the ones who have to get it right. That’s where you need your best coaches, not at the Test match level. At that level, you need someone who can plan the game, who can focus on the game. Be noticed and I don’t think we have a lot of sports students today.
Roberts also believes that a captain cannot do much if he does not have capable players to execute his plans.
“I’m not going to blame the captain, you know,” he said. “You as a captain can make as many correct decisions as possible, but if you don’t have players to carry out the instructions, how will you be successful? That’s why the emphasis should start on developing the players. Not the coach.” .
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