Lara: "crying for help" Photo © Action Photographics

Dr Nigel Camacho, of Trinidad, is the original Convenor of the "The Trini Posse", a group of West Indian cricket supporters who travel around the world with the West Indies team. In the second of two letters to CricInfo, he puts forward solutions to halt the downward spiral of West Indies cricket.

"West Indies cricket is fast becoming the laughing stock of world cricket. The once proud 'discipline' of West Indies cricket is a mere shadow of its former self. Recent failures on overseas tours are fast eroding 50 years of steady social elevation, acceptance and recognition.

It is unfair just to blame the current batch of West Indian Test cricketers for something this serious. Although they should shoulder some responsibility, ultimately it is everyone in the region involved in cricket who should share the blame.

I keep hearing that something is very wrong with West Indies cricket, yet no one seems able to identify the problem and, more importantly, find a solution. I believe, however, that this problem is so complex that both the cause and the solution are multifaceted.

When West Indies cricket was at its pinnacle, West Indians collectively felt a sense of pride and confidence never before felt in our relatively short history. I can say for myself, this success gave me inspiration to get me through my daily struggles, all the while affording me great personal pleasure that goes with backing a winner, beating all-comers.

However, now that things are reversed, inevitably there will be speculation, arguments and finger-pointing resulting in a disunity never before seen in the region. The future of West Indianness looks bleak at best, for the last fabric of West Indian unity, with all due respect to the University of the West Indies, is falling apart at the seams.

In retrospect, it appears that the most significant and important event in Brian Lara's life may well have been one of the worst for West Indies cricket. When Lara shot, almost overnight, from a batsman of great potential to a world record holder in early 1994, this elevation may have been both too early in his career and without the proper preparation (ie to handle the pressures that go hand in hand with being an international icon, superstar and role model).

One must remember that Lara's elevation in terms of status and remuneration carries no precedent for a West Indian cricketer and, in this age of globalisation, his marketability and popularity skyrocketed.

Many of Lara's critics will probably disagree with me, yet I believe that he is not entirely responsible for what they see as flaws in his persona.

He must shoulder part, if not most, of the blame for his past indiscretions; however, I now realise that he has been "crying for help" for a long time. Either these pleas have fallen upon deaf ears or no one has made an effort to listen. I know on my part, I did not have the foresight or guts to recognise and admit that there may have been a problem, and like many of his 'acquaintances' I did not really listen. I have always defended Brian tooth and nail, and will continue to do so; however, more importantly for his sake, I should have seen the red flags.

Many of Brian's critics distance themselves from any responsibility for his past indiscretions. However, I feel everyone involved in West Indies cricket must be considered somewhat responsible. 'We' are all to blame! When I say 'we', I refer to the regional and national cricket boards, local and regional governments, critics, fans and 'friends' alike.

So what does this have to do with the current problems facing West Indies cricket?

As of April 1994, Brian Lara, the individual, became more 'powerful' (that is more marketable) than West Indies cricket itself. It is unfortunate that this event coincided with an apparent shortfall in the cricketing talent pool in the region.

Discipline has always been an issue with West Indian touring teams, yet in the past any problems that arose were either tolerated or even side-stepped due to the success of these teams. Added to this, the West Indian cricketers of the past were professionals coming out of the Lancashire Leagues and/or county cricket in England.

For this reason, these players learnt the hard way that the only way to ensure survival (in terms of their cricket career) was by getting the job done (ie by producing results). Whereas the remuneration for playing for the West Indies in the past was a mere pittance compared with now, good performance at this level guaranteed professional contracts and ultimately a comfortable livelihood. These players, as a result, represented our region with great pride, sadly lacking today.

Although slight indiscretions may have existed then, solid performances and positive results silenced these problems, and they never became an issue. For this reason disciplinary problems may have been overlooked in the past and have never been properly addressed, and this is probably the major reason why we are suffering today.

Most of the current players are not professionals and indiscipline has crept into their games and their overall demeanour, and this is a big problem. Blaming these players alone for our current predicament is not right though; the authorities must accept some of the blame.

Disciplinary guidelines seem non-existent in West Indies cricket – however, they must exist. It's clear that they are either non-functional or in urgent need of being revamped. I am certain tour management must have disciplinary guidelines that they follow, but it's obvious that these guidelines are not clear-cut. In fact, judging from first-hand reports coming out of recent tours, they are very loose and ambiguous.

This is at the heart of our current problem but what complicates matters even more is the board's handling of Brian Lara in the absence of a functioning disciplinary system. No single West Indian cricketer has ever been so well remunerated financially as Brian Lara, not even the great Viv Richards.

Attaining such success so young naturally lessened some of that drive that motivates an individual – that is human nature. The WICB were now caught in a dire Catch 22. Discipline Brian Lara for indiscretion or succumb to sponsorship pressure and demands and defer punishment for the sake of financial viability. It appears that they were careful trying not to upset their main marketing 'trump card', yet they were always at loggerheads with him.

This non-committal approach meant that most of the disciplinary actions taken against him amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist. Bowing to market demand, Lara became an 'untouchable' of sorts. All of this does not sit well with both the 'elders' of West Indian cricket, who paid the price and never received their just reward, and with present players alike who feel slighted by the imbalanced handling of players. The result of this is that we now have a fragmented cricket team, showing little or no cohesion or unity, and a disenchanted public.

The current WICB has concentrated on the marketing of West Indies cricket without perhaps paying enough attention to product development. This product has deteriorated badly in the past decade, and they (WICB) have been fortunate to continue to ride the wake of past success. However, if the current product is not improved quickly, they will be unable to sell West Indies cricket to even the most ardent fans, like myself.

Indiscipline has eroded the 'team concept', a quality which has typically been our strength in the past. In the face of ever-present insularity, past West Indies teams still managed to remain a unit, as is the present Australian team. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. We no longer play as a team!

Before all the obvious changes needed to improve West Indies cricket (eg technology, training physiology, academies, etc) can be implemented, this serious disciplinary problem must be addressed. We need to create a disciplined team. Discipline in all senses of the word. Discipline on and off the field. Discipline in batting, bowling, fielding and in training. Discipline in the way you conduct yourselves off the field, while representing us, the people of the region.

Once these disciplinary guidelines have been established and implemented, the authorities must stick by their policy. They can ask Sir Alex Ferguson (manager of Manchester Utd) how it's done. If anyone, I mean anyone, steps out of line, they must face the consequences, no matter who they are. This is the only way we can begin to rebuild to recapture past glories.

We have learnt a difficult lesson, and in order to gain from this negative experience we must analyse where we went wrong and move forward for the good of West Indian cricket. Now that precedent has been established, we must not repeat these mistakes with our potential future superstars. This also goes for 'regular' players, and we must ensure that they are prepared for the rigours of the modern game, on and off the field.

As I see it, we have two choices to progress from our present desperate situation.

The authorities must create a framework of team guidelines in terms of protocol and discipline and stick by them, ensuring no preferential treatment. The players must once again wear their maroon West Indian caps with honour and pride, representing themselves and the people of this region with dignity.

Equally important, these players must be treated with respect and an equality that is present in all successful teams. The players themselves must respect the authorities' responsibility for running, developing and marketing the game in the region and beyond.

No matter how famous one becomes, no man is bigger than the game itself. Once all of this is established and put in place, then and only then can we begin to rebuild 'our team'.

If this proves impossible for some players, then we must move on without them, even our 'most talented' player, Brian Lara. This may seem unthinkable to some, but we must cast aside blind prejudices for the good of the game.

For example, although the cricketing world demands to see Lara out in the middle every time the Windies take the field, it is more important for world cricket to have a competitive West Indian team playing the game. So if one player impedes team progress, West Indies cricket cannot afford to tag along behind this uncompromising player. We must get rid of all players who either don't fall into the team concept, or disrupt the chemistry of the team.

All for one and one for all, or none at all. Every successful team in sport history has had three key elements: leadership, unity and discipline. At present we need to work on all three, but most importantly, discipline. Here is to hoping that West Indies cricket can recover quickly and restore pride and confidence as one of the premier cricket-playing nations in the world."

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