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It is amazing how an honest mistake can sometimes lead to a great blessing, if handled correctly. Two weeks ago in my column, I attributed comments to national cricket coach Gus Logie that he reportedly made in the Royal Gazette. It turns out that the Gazette was wrong and my comments based on their mistake were off the mark because of that.

Now I have never been averse to holding up my hand if I get it wrong and not only did I issue a public apology, but apologized personally to Logie as well.

This opened the door to the first of what I hope to be several interviews with the former West Indies coach and player. It was indeed a privilege to sit down with Gus and listen to his response the questions I asked him.

First of all Gus please accept my apologies for attributing to you comments that you never made in the Bermuda Sun, I did get my information from the Royal Gazette and I can assure you it was not done maliciously.

I certainly understand that, often comments are made and I tend not to worry too much about misinformation that gets out but when the misinformation then turns into query or criticism then I think one should make sure the facts are correct before publishing them.

There is a perception in the public that after qualifying for the World Cup two years ago, that many of our players believed their place in the team was secure thus became complacent instead of working even harder to raise their game. From your perspective is there any truth to this?

No, I can't say that. I've had total effort from the players I've been involved with. I have chided them on many occasions about raising their game to another level. So I don't think it was a case of them feeling their place was secure. Maybe we didn't have a large amount of individuals vying for positions to put pressure on them, but I think they understood what playing in the World Cup was all about. They understood the level of competition they were up against and knew they had to maintain a certain level of fitness, form and commitment.

You've already stated that although there were some good individual performances in the World Cup you believe the team could have given a better account of themselves. If you could do it all over again would you in any way change the way that we prepared for the World Cup?

I would like to think that we have an opportunity to qualify for another World Cup and I believe we are embarking on reaching everyone.

We intend to go to people instead of just asking people to make themselves available, we want to do a lot more one-on-one screening of individuals, talking to people on an individual basis, going to the schools and clubs.

We intend to find out why individuals do not want to commit themselves to the national agenda; Why many youngsters main goal is to play in Cup Match.

We intend to say to them that 'Yes, while we agree that it is great to play Cup Match, your ultimate goal should be to represent your country at the highest level and make a name for yourself at international level.'

So the emphasis now is getting the individual to realize that there is a big world out there to be conquered as oppose to settling for less.

With the World Cup campaign now over a couple of the national team players have announced their retirement while others appear determined to hang around until 2009 to help Bermuda qualify again. Do you believe the time is ripe to rebuild the team, to bring some young players into the side?

The reality of the situation is this, we made a call for anyone interested in playing for the national team to make themselves available and even though the response has been encouraging it hasn't been overwhelming.

When you look at the players who show up they are still by and large mature players 27, 28, 33, 36 yet the more established players, the players that we all want to be playing for the national squad because of their skill and ability, haven't put themselves forward. Now in an ideal world, yes I would say we want to start afresh and use the younger players but if they are not committed to playing for the national team then who will you pick?

We are now prepared to go into the clubs. We have sent letters to them to get feedback about when we can come to do training sessions, video sessions and talk to their players. We are waiting for responses but we are determined to reach them.

Gus, you've coached all around the world, what would you say are some of the unique challenges you face when working with Bermuda cricketers?

I think the biggest challenge is the desire, that's a major difference. In the West Indies everybody wants to play for their club, their country, because of its legacy and it affords you a better living. Therefore the passion for most of the youngsters is still there. So it is not difficult to drive a programme in the Caribbean or Australia or England because people want to represent their country.

Here in Bermuda it is a different thing. At times you have to almost bend over backwards to accommodate individuals because it is a different lifestyle. Guys don't need to go on a cricket tour to see other parts of the world. Many don't see it as financially rewarding to represent Bermuda so these are challenges, which one has to overcome.

You have to make it attractive by pointing out to them that it is an honour to represent one's country; you can gain greater respectability within the community.

The sponsors and the authorities have a role to play by making sure that when these youngsters aspire to represent their country, that they are recognized and appreciated.

Having worked in the past with Test cricketers, what type of adjustments do you as a coach have to make when working with what are essentially club players?

I think patience most of all. Patience is a great virtue.

First of all you don't have them all the time to work with so you don't see improvement as quickly as you would with professional players who are always on call and who are always preparing for competition.

With amateur players the progress tends to be slow and sometimes painful.

For example, sometimes you will make progress when you have them in a controlled environment for a certain length of time.

If you go on tour for a month and you're working day-in and day-out then you will see them progress, but then you come back to the home environment, players go back to the club where the discipline is not as strict and the training regimen is not always adhered to and you will see them regress.

So when they are called up for the national programme again you have to start from scratch and that can be frustrating for coaches.

Do you believe the time was right for Brian Lara's to retire and what impact do you believe his retirement will have on West Indies cricket?

The simple answer would be no! But I just want to say that it is rather unfortunate that something like this has happened. I believe an individual who has done so much for cricket worldwide he deserved to go in a more dignified way.

What impact do you think his leaving will have on the West Indies team itself?

I think it is sad. I believe those closest to the team itself seem to believe it may have a positive impact, but people who support the West Indies and millions around the world who enjoyed watching Brian will miss him and believe it will be a detriment.

I believe we are already beginning to see the fall-out from his sudden retirement. While I don't want to be a prophet of doom I think there will be more.

What Brian brings to West Indies cricket is respect from the opposition and, even in financial terms, in attracting sponsors. When I was involved with West Indies cricket one would listen to people in the know and there were times when West Indies cricket couldn't be marketed without Brian.

Were you surprised that your successor Bennett King retired so soon after the wWrld Cup?

No, not really. When you look around at what has been happening with all the coaches who haven't been successful with their respective teams, it seems almost inevitable these days that coaches are always the 'fall guy.'

That's regardless of what you have to work with or what situation you come into, but that is the reality. International sports is a cut throat business and the only thing people seem to judge you by is results and if you don't get them then your always going to be in danger of being cut whether it comes from the powers that be or the public putting pressure on the powers that be to make decisions.

But from all reports it appears he was doing a reasonable job in getting the players to a certain level of awareness. When he came on board people where saying that science and technology were the way forward for West Indies cricket - it's just sad to see the way it has all ended.

If the opportunity came along again for you to coach the West Indies would you consider it?

Let's say, I gave West Indies cricket all I had as a player and as coach. I have moved on with my and my family's lives. I wish West Indies cricket all the best. I think I've paid my dues to West Indies cricket.[[In-content Ad]]

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