Fazeer Mohammed: Chanderpaul has to go

Let's see if we make a mess of this latest window of opportunity. In nine weeks' time, the West Indies cricketers will be on their way to New Zealand for a series of five one-day internationals and three Test matches. There is also the first 20-20 international involving the Caribbean side to get the tour underway on February 16, but to all intents and purposes, the result of that "vupping" session is irrelevant to anything else that will follow.

As has become the norm in the aftermath of the latest series of defeats, there are optimistic noises coming from many different sources claiming that the evidence of the tour of Australia forecasts a new dawn for West Indies cricket, that the flowering of youthful talent, combined with the evergreen batting maestro, will soon see the now barren landscape of regional cricket transformed once again into a land rich with the bountiful harvest of conquering heroes, sweeping all before them and restoring these scattered jewels in the Caribbean Sea into the united crown of dominance of the noble game. So sayeth the politicians, and others with no grasp of reality.

It will take much more than the many talents of Dwayne Bravo, the competence of Denesh Ramdin and the class of Brian Lara, aided and abetted by the inevitable plethora of reasonably fast bowlers, to slow the pace of the ten-year decline, to speak nothing of the mythical turnaround that is often confidently predicted like tomorrow's sunrise. Make no mistake, there are signs of hope, both on and off the field. The periods of outstanding play against the Australians last month were no fluke, although consistency and sustained effort remain elusive. The apparent healing of the debilitating rift over sponsorship should finally put that disruptive matter to rest, so maybe there is a chance of actually focusing on cricket in the lead-up to the journey to the end of the earth.

Before getting too excited, though, keep in mind that a year ago, the West Indies had a six-month break between Test matches, an almost unprecedented gap in the modern context of jam-packed international schedules. They went into the break overflowing with hope after an almost miraculous victory over England in the final of the Champions' Trophy in London, yet emerged for the first Test against South Africa in Guyana more disjointed and divided than before, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul thrust into a captaincy role that evidence of the past seven months confirms that he is not best suited for. And this really is the crux of the matter, leadership, not just on the field but in the dressing room and the boardroom.

Has anyone at any level of influence in West Indies cricket decided what is the way forward for the regional team in the days leading up to the departure for New Zealand? Or is it going to be the usual vaille-qui-vaille modus operandi, a little training camp here, some boardroom horse-trading there, with the resultant patched-up compromise of a regional team expected to get the better of a side that even the greatest West Indies teams of all time have struggled to defeat on their home ground? Bennett King, West Indies' coach, is staying Down Under to spend the holidays with his extended family. But has the man with the most power and greatest direct influence on the West Indies team made it clear to his employers what his strategy is for 2006 and beyond? Recent history suggests that even if he has, there will be obstacles in the way of real progress, obstacles in the shape of officials concerned more with showing their level of influence than trying to lay a solid foundation for the rebuilding of a once proud and universally admired-and feared - cricket team.

In his feature address at the Queen's Park Cricket Club's annual dinner a couple weeks ago, Ken Gordon gave an encouraging progress report on his stated objectives when he took over as West Indies Board president last August. As a proven man of action, he must now show that he can influence hardened regional representatives that this business of administration is not about getting the best for your respective territory to ensure re-election, but appreciating the bigger picture and making the tough decisions that are really the only way to achieve meaningful progress.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is feeling the heat of captaincy © Getty Images

All may be generally quiet for the next few weeks, but prepare for the inevitable parochialism and insularity when the issue of the captaincy comes up. Chanderpaul, the dedicated, determined cricketer that he is, is nevertheless no inspirational leader of men. Recognising that blindingly obvious fact and acting in response to that reality is one way of stepping out of the mire. But who we go put? As in politics, so in cricket, the West Indies isn't exactly blessed at the moment with selfless men of vision who can lift a people above their petty interests.

Bold decisions with an eye to the future have to be made. Even venturing to mention alternatives now will generate heated debate and no little animosity, none of which will have anything to do with cricket but are predicated on who does or doesn't like who, and which race or nationality is out to embarrass which race or nationality. Those alternatives are for another column, but unless we first acknowledge that we just can't go on this way, then we have nowhere to go.