Jereon Smit is missing but Holland can get to the finals Jereon Smit, the Netherlands captain/wicketkeeper, has retired from international game with his country poised for the chance to qualify for the Finals of the Twenty 20 World Cup after having secured their place in the finals of the conventional World Cup in early 2011. He led his team at a difficult time after the Dutch failed to improve on the promise of the early 1990s, mainly through the retirement several of their star players and a cut-back in the number of imported cricketers. No country has had a better ambassador for cricket. The Dutch produced a major – though under-reported – surprise in defeating the West Indies led by Viv Richards at Haarlem in 1991. Admittedly the West Indians were coming off a tiring tour of England and had underestimated the pace of the ball on the artificial pitch, but it was still a considerable achievement. I was the only “outside” journalist present to witness the joy of the local press and supporters and their understandable disappointment that the international press gave the victory such scant attention. Twelve years later I was in The Hague as a guest of the city-s tourist office. It was a cold, chilling December but the representatives were helpful in arranging interviews and taking me to sites of interest. It was St Nicholas Day when Dutch people celebrate the arrival of “Santa Claus” – the start of the Christmas festivities when everybody wants to be at home with the family. Nevertheless Jereon Smit gave up the comfort of his hearth to meet me at the cricket ground and explain the game in Holland. The clubhouse was almost deserted – almost but not quite – as he received my wife and myself and stayed as long as we wanted in talking about the Dutch game. I say that the clubhouse was not quite deserted because Dick Abed passed behind me and had departed by the side-door before I could engage him in conversation. Abed was with Basil d’Oliveira and Cecil Abrahams one of the outstanding “non-white” South African cricketers of the late-1950s and early-1960s. Cricket is a minority sport in the Netherlands. It suffers from having to share the grounds – and he players – with field hockey, which is more of a national obsession, and has to wait until that season is complete before it can enjoy the facilities. There have been several fine individual Dutch cricketers, including wicketkeeper Jereon Smith, and I wish them well in the attempt to mark their mark at the highest levels of cricket competition. Clayton Goodwin 8th February 2010     Ottis Gibson is new West Indies head coach He warns – Forget fixation with the “glory days” Ottis Gibson has been appointed new WICB head coach, and has warned West Indies that the fixation with the region’s “glory days” must plan if the projected reinvestment in grass-roots cricket is to bear fruit. The 40 year-old Barbadian has relinquished his role as England’s bowling coach for the forthcoming home limited-overs against Zimbabwe. The green shoots of West Indian cricket recovery have been perceived in their recent Test Match “fight back” against Australia and the Under-19 team finishing third in their recent World Cup in New Zealand. "It's obviously an exciting new time for me," Gibson told BBC Sport. "Things were going well with England, but the call to come back and try to do my part to resurrect West Indies cricket was one I couldn't say no to. Grass-roots cricket is going to be the biggest challenge over the next couple of years," he added. "We'll be spending time and resources there, because the most important thing in sport is youth, and what's coming up behind the players who are there now. We need to put time, money and effort into those guys." Gibson, himself fast bowler who was particularly effective with the old ball, has enjoyed his greatest success after his two-match Test career from 1995 to 1999 ended. His hard-hitting lower-order batting was an asset in his 15 limited-overs internationals. Ottis twice took five wickets in an innings against Sri Lanka. In English county cricket he played for both Glamorgan and Durham as well as representing three provincial sides in South Africa. The Barbadian’s form for Durham, whom he joined in 2006, eclipsed all that had gone before. In his first season there he hit 155, his highest first-class score, and in the next took all 10 wickets in an innings for 47 runs against Hampshire. At the end of that summer he was appointed England’s bowling coach. Clayton Goodwin 4th February 2010   The West Indies Cricket Board has named the following players for the upcoming limited-overs tour of Australia: 1. Chris Gayle (Captain) 2. Dwayne Bravo (Vice Captain) 3. Narsingh Deonarine 4. Travis Dowlin 5. Runako Morton 6. Nikita Miller 7. Brendan Nash 8. Kieron Pollard 9. Denesh Ramdin 10. Ravi Rampaul 11. Kemar Roach 12. Darren Sammy 13. Lendl Simmons 14. Dwayne Smith 15. Gavin Tonge Team Management: Joel Garner (Team Manager), David Williams (Coach), Henderson Springer (Assistant Coach), C.J Clark (Physiotherapist), Hector Martinez Charles (Strength & Conditioning Coach), Richard Berridge (Video & Statistical Analyst), Philip Spooner (Media Officer), Virgil Browne (Massage Therapist). Several players are unavailable for selection due to injury: Daren Bravo, Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Shiv Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor. Speaking on the team, Clyde Butts (Chairman of Selectors for the West Indies Cricket Board) outlined: On the team unit: We believe the team will do very well in Australia in the 50-over format as well as the T20 Internationals. We have faith in the players and we believe the team can beat Australia. Before we went to Australia for the Test matches, the team was not given a chance by many people, but we saw how well they bounced backed after the first Test and challenged the Aussies in Adelaide and Perth. On selections: We are missing some key players due to injuries, but this is an opportunity for other players to re-establish themselves. We have selected some allrounders who we believe have the ability to be match-winners at the international level. Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard have been a bit disappointing in the past, but they have displayed the ability to perform on the Twenty/20 stage, and we think they will be major assets in the squad. Looking forward: There is a lot of cricket to be played in the next five months and we have to be prepared. The players have been working hard and we are looking to do well in Australia and also to continue that work when we return home for the series against Zimbabwe in late February and March. After that we have the much-anticipated ICC T20 World Cup and at home and we want to be fully prepared for that. Following that tournament we face South Africa at home at that will be another major battle. Overall, we want to see the players make progress as individuals, see the team make strides as a unit and get West Indies cricket back up the ladder. Tour schedule February 4: vs Prime Minister’s XI, Canberra One-Day Internationals February 7: 1st ODI at MCG, Melbourne February 9: 2nd ODI at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide February 12: 3rd ODI at SCG, Sydney February 14: 4th ODI at Gabba, Brisbane February 19: 5th ODI at MCG, Melbourne T20 Internationals February 21: at Bellerive Oval, Hobart February 23: at SCG, Sydney