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WICB call off watchdogs

IT should come as a surprise to no one, but the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have decided not to pursue the review of the performance of current West Indies skipper Brian Lara.

And the likelihood is now that the 29-year-old star batsman will later this week be reappointed as captain for the rest of the Cable and Wireless Australia series as well as for the World Cup which starts in England in mid-May.

WICB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephen Camacho told the Express yesterday that the top level team that was scheduled to meet this week to continue their assessment of Lara's captaincy will no longer be actively involved. The four-member committee, including Camacho, and chairman of selectors Michael Findlay, has been advised that the matter of the appraisal is now history.

``There are around two weeks between the Second and Third Test,'' said Camacho, adding that the committee members and selectors will now meet to discuss his captaincy and the performance of the team in relation to his captaincy.

Camacho said that ``they will then make a report based on their assessment of his performance in the series to date, and then recommend the captain for the next two Test matches to the West Indies Board''.

The CEO noted that the Board ``will not meet''. ``We will call around and get all the views,'' he said, ``and then the captain will be announced.'' Last month, just before the start of the current tour, the WICB and the selectors met with Lara and the manager and coach of the team that toured South Africa, Clive Lloyd and Malcolm Marshall, in the wake of the humiliating 5-0 whitewash suffered by the West Indians in that series.

WICB president Patrick Rousseau then announced that Lara will be appointed captain only for the first two matches of the four-Test Australia series.

A set of appraisal criteria were agreed upon after discussion between the captain and the Board's representatives and the four-member committee was named to take direct responsibility for the assessment. Camacho felt that the issue ``would not take long to decide'' and gave the assurance that ``given the results, the business of naming the captain will be expedited so as not to upset the team building''.

``Once the nomination is ratified by the Board, we will try our best to ensure that this captaincy issue is settled quickly so as not to upset the team,'' he said.

Speaking in his personal capacity, he said he felt Lara had given ``a good account of himself and it was clear to see that the team was behind him''.

Elaborating, the CEO said: ``We have to understand that a review or performance appraisal, is not a bad thing and it was never meant as a means of firing somebody from a position. We were just seeking to improve that person.

``It happens in many spheres of life,'' he said.

Camacho also sought to squash rumours that Lara had been fined for arriving 45 minutes late for a training session in the run up to the second Test and that he had stayed out until the wee hours of the morning at a Jamaican disco called the Asylum.

``We have no knowledge of any fine being imposed on Lara for anything. He has been doing a good job captaining the West Indies in the Test, and making everyone happy, it is interesting how the West Indies were once being called dead, but now everyone is saying there is a revival. ``We have had absolutely no problems with Brain contrary to what is being claimed elsewhere,'' he added.

Team manager Lloyd fully endorsed Camacho's statement and said he was in complete agreement with Lara being appointed for the remainder of the series and the World Cup.

``I have always backed Brian,'' he told the Express, ``and I will continue to back Brian as he is a very good captain until he proves me wrong.''

And pulling no punches, he went on: ``There really is no other choice, but to rename him for the rest of the series and the World Cup.''