Tony BeccaJOEL GARNER is one of the finest West Indies bowlers of all time. He is, however, more than that.
He also knows the game, he is a good judge of talent, and like so many who tend to take the easy way out and sit on their principles, he also stands up for what he believes. On top of that, he is not insular. West Indies cricket is his passion.
With such credentials, Garner deserves to be a West Indies selector, and when he talks those interested in West Indies cricket should listen.
As good as he is, however, "Big Bird" is not perfect. Like other mortals, he does make mistakes, what he says, therefore, is not always right, and based on reports in the Barbados Nation newspaper, that was the case last week.
According to the report, Garner wants an urgent meeting of the West Indies selectors and the chairmen of the territorial selection committees so that they can discuss selection policy.
According to Garner, the West Indies selectors and the selectors from the territorial Boards have to meet "so they can have an idea as to how we are thinking".
"There must be some kind of dialogue as we must have one common position as we look at the future of West Indies cricket," Garner was quoted as saying. "We have to stop looking at tournaments and start looking at development."
Garner also said something else. He said that the West Indies selectors were hoping to have some form of cohesion surrounding the players the West Indies wanted to have an eye on and the ones selected at the national level - national meaning territorial.
"All we are saying is that there may be a few players we would like to have in the framework who may not be immediately up to international level but we believe that with a little help in their development they could become world class."
The call by the West Indies selectors for dialogue is nothing new. It has been going on for a few years now, nothing has come of it, and if, as one or two of the West Indies selectors have said, the feeling is that territorial selectors place too much emphasis on winning and not on developing cricketers for the West Indies team and the plan is to tell the territorial selectors who to select on territorial teams, hopefully nothing will come of it.
Nothing should come of it for many reasons.
There is no proof, for example, that those appointed by the West Indies Board to select the West Indies team are better judges of talent than those appointed by the territorial Boards to select the territorial teams; and on top of that, the West Indies selectors certainly do not know as much about the players, particularly the young players in the territories, as do the territorial selectors.
The territorial selectors who see their players in action week after week and in varying conditions and circumstances can better assess them when it comes to their skills, temperament, commitment, attitude and whatever else it is that makes the difference between those who, in spite of God-given talent, succeed and those who do not.
There is also the fact that the regional senior tournaments are competitions, and because of that the territorial selectors are obliged to select the best players, the best team, to represent the respective territory.
The West Indies selectors, therefore, should have no right to set guidelines - to tell them how to select and who to select.
Garner and company should understand that competition is the basis of development, it motivates players to train and practice, it is the test of skill and temperament, and the exclusion of the best players and the inclusion of players who are not good enough would serve no useful purpose.
Apart from appreciating the fact that it provides a wonderful atmosphere for the development of young players, winning is important, not only to the players but also to the sponsors and the fans without whom cricket, including West Indies cricket, would suffer. They should also remember that there are regional competitions at age group levels, and that the reason for those competitions is the development, gradually, of young players.
They would do well to also remember that over the years the really good youngsters, the ones who demonstrate their skill and their temperament by performing at the Under-19 level, have always been selected for their territories' senior team.
The development of young players is best served when they are forced to perform, when they are forced to win their places by performance rather than by age or by so-called talent.
Although that is not now the case with the West Indies team, that is how it was, that is the principle which prevailed in the days when eventual champions like Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott, Gary Sobers and Rohan Kanhai were youngsters, that is how it should remain, and although there is nothing wrong with a quiet suggestion here and there, the West Indies selectors should leave the territorial selectors alone.
Listening to some of the selectors, they would love to see more youngsters, youngsters with promise, in the territorial teams. West Indies cricket, however, cannot afford two youth tournaments, and with their pride at stake, the fans in the respective territories would not put up with being represented by second elevens.
The responsibility of the territorial selectors is to select the best players for the territorial teams, and the responsibility of the West Indies selectors is to select, based on performance, the best of the territories best to represent the West Indies. It is as simple as that.
The problem with the West Indies team has nothing to do with who are selected to represent the territories. It has to do with what is happening to cricket at the school level, the lack of financial support at the club level, the tendency to discard players too early at the territorial level, because of that, the unfinished product representing the territories, and because of that, the selection, by the West Indies selectors, of some young players who are not yet ready for Test cricket.
