Time for action to stem the rot: Adams
Besieged skipper Jimmy Adams has appealed to his country's administrators to stop talking and act to revive paralysed Caribbean cricket.
The image of once-proud West Indies cricket took another merciless pounding in Melbourne on Friday when Steve Waugh's champion Australian team crushed them by 352 runs in the fourth Test to hold a 4-0 series lead with a Test to play.
Caribbean cricket has been laid bare these past five years with a series defeat to England for the first time in 31 years and now the very real prospect of an unprecedented 5-0 series whitewash in Australia.
And 53-Test veteran Adams is playing as if he is humping the weight of West Indies cricket troubles on his shoulders.
The 32-year-old Jamaican left-hander was a pitiful sight as he went for a first-ball duck at a time when he was needed most as the West Indies slid to be all out for 109 and hand Australia one of their most emphatic successes. He was out for a six-ball duck in the first innings.
Marlon Samuels, the exciting 19-year-old Jamaican right-hander, gave a glimpse of the future of West Indies cricket as he topscored in both innings with an unbeaten 60 and 46 in Friday's lost cause.
Adams wants action from the Caribbean cricket authorities to turn things around.
"It is not ever a time to panic, I don't think panicking achieves anything," Adams said in the wake of the latest Test humiliation inside four days.
"You look at a situation, you assess it and you work out what is it that we want short-term, mid-term and what we realistically look for long-term in terms of years.
"Having said that we must put something into place to show that you're not just sitting down and talking."
Adams admitted he is feeling the pressure of leading the under-achieving West Indian team.
"Of course, the results hurt," Adams said. "I'd like to consider myself always a realist but at the same time, you always try to be as positive as you can with all your players."
However, when asked how he was coping with the pressure of being in charge, Adams admitted: "I'm not so much physically (tired) but mentally it can get to you.
"But it is something I'm learning (to cope with) every day, you just have to keep going."
Adams got some compassion from his hard-nosed Australian counterpart Steve Waugh as the Australians celebrated their 14th consecutive Test victory.
"I would tell him to have a serious drink tonight ... I generally feel sorry for Jimmy because he's a real nice guy and a good cricketer, but I'm fortunate that I've got an excellent side to captain," said Waugh.
"At this time it's not happening for Jimmy, his batting's showing the signs of stress and what is going on, he's not thinking clearly with his shot selection and that happened today, but he'll come back from that."
Things don't get any easier for Adams and his demoralised team with the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground fast approaching in four days.
"It's not going to be easy, but it's something we have to face and we have to try to deal with it," said Adams.
Adams said he wasn't personally intimidated by the Australian team.
"I can't speak for everybody in the team, but what I will say is that this (playing Australia in Australia) is the biggest challenge in international cricket.
"I think as a player, this is what you should want, to be tested to the limit."
Mail Cricket Editor
