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Friday 11, February-2005 by Haydn Gill

Barbados opener Martin Nurse in the nets.

KINGSTOWN – Courtney Browne has come back and immediately stamped his presence in the Barbados team.

The undisputed leader, the most successful captain in regional cricket history, had a serious talk to his players in the aftermath of their horrific start to the Carib Beer Series.

“I was very blunt. It is all about production from here for me,” Browne told WEEKENDSPORT before he and his men got down to serious practice at the Arnos Vale Playing Field yesterday evening.

“I don’t think we can sit down. We have players in this team who are performing way below par. They really have to look at their game, assess it and look to produce.

“I don’t think we could just sit back anymore and say that we are taking guys for the ride. All of that is over.”

After four successive defeats that have left the defending double crown champions bottom of the standings on four points, there is hope of a turnaround in the sixth-round match against the Windward Islands, starting here today.

But the players must first get the message.

“I am not looking to criticise. I just think that we need to put some structures in place,” Browne said.

“We have made some suggestions. Hopefully these guys will follow the suggestions and look to improve Barbados’ cricket. At the end of the day we are not playing for ourselves. We’re playing for the Barbadian people and our people are very proud people.”

Throughout the tournament, Barbados’ big names have been woefully short of expectations with the bat.

At this stage, who would have expected the interim captain Sherwin Campbell to have 185 runs (ave. 23.12), Dwayne Smith 149 runs (ave. 18.62), Kurt Wilkinson 137 runs (ave. 17.12) and Martin Nurse 193 runs (ave. 24.12)?

While they have been let-downs, Dale Richards, in his first season of first-class cricket, and wicket-keeper Patrick Browne, who has moved up the ranks following three seasons with the West Indies “B” team, have been the standouts.

“He [Patrick] didn’t make any hundreds, but each and every time he occupied the crease for a long time,” the elder Browne said.

“If you have guys like Patrick doing that, the other guys have to realise they’ve got to do it, whatever it takes.”

Courtney Browne spent most of the tournament far off in Australia with the West Indies team, but he’s been able to gather enough to come to his own conclusion why Barbados have been so off the mark.

“My own assessment is we had a case where our players didn’t stand on their own feet,” he said.

“Over the last few years, they were able to hide behind the other players who were doing well. As soon as those players went overseas, we have seen a lot of the players are not the best under pressure. We had no one who would put up their hand.”

The Windwards are second in the standings on 34 points, but Browne feels Barbados can turn things around.

They will try to do so at the same venue where they triumphed over their opponents inside three days two years ago.

“It is just a matter of putting things in place, putting plans in place and making sure they are followed,” the captain said. “When you look at the Barbados set-up, we need to send a strong message that we are looking for production and not potential.”

For the next few weeks, he wants to see changes in attitude; more commitment towards practising, for example.

“One of the things I’d like to do personally is change the whole culture in terms of practice, commitment and stuff. That is one of the biggest things in this team that needs to improve,” he said.

“Until we can see the attitude of a player that really wants to die for his country, we will always see a bit of mediocrity.”

As simple as it sounded, he talked about getting in more practice.

“If you just rely on a ten-minute knock when the coach calls practice, it is not going to happen for you,” he added. “We are trying to get the players to come down a bit earlier on their own. We don’t want to make it compulsory.

“At this level of cricket, you have to take some responsibility for your own game. Hopefully, with a little guidance, the guys can follow the guidelines and try to work on their game.”

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