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It's 9:50 a.m. last Thursday and a NATION House receptionist calls to alert me that Roland Butcher is in the lobby to see me.

He catches me slightly off-guard because he is 25 minutes earlier than the time we had set for our interview.

What it immediately told me was this was an individual who knew what punctuality was all about.

By extension, the Barbados-born Butcher, who played three Tests for England on their 1981 trip to the Caribbean, knew what discipline was about a quality perhaps so sadly lacking among several West Indian cricketers of this generation.

It is a characteristic that he would have developed while he was a seasoned professional for English county Middlesex between 1972 and 1991.

Now a highly-qualified coach with countless certificates, Butcher identifies a lack of discipline among the reasons why the West Indies team of today is among the also-rans on the international stage.

The problem could have stemmed from the limited opportunities presented for West Indians to play county cricket these days.

There is a discipline to playing county cricket, he said.

You are away from home. You are in a strange country. You are on your own. You have to cook for yourself. You have to wash. You have to be on time. You have to go to team meetings.

Managing affairs properly

In short, it's about managing your own affairs.

It's a discipline. If you are able to cope with that with the natural ability you've got, you're on the way, Butcher added.

That's been taken away for us and it's a huge void that somehow you've to fill. That finishing isn't there.

Butcher had no doubts that the likes of Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and others benefited tremendously from the experience of the county circuit.

County cricket was the finishing school for the great West Indian cricketers, he said.

These were cricketers with ability and a lot of talent, but really in England, it was when they became top-class cricketers.

Butcher had a few seasons of country cricket when he made his Test debut and since the end of his playing days, he has established himself as a leading coach, having landed jobs with the Maryleborne Cricket Club, the International Cricket Council (ICC), Australian first-class team Tasmania and the Bermuda national side, among others.

At the moment, he is head cricket coach at the Oxford-based St Edwards School, which is on a two-week tour of Barbados. He is also involved with the ICC in developing the game in France, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Follows West Indies game

But he still follows West Indies cricket closely and is keen to make a contribution in rebuilding the game in the region.

I would love to be working in the Caribbean, he said.

About 15 to 20 years ago, West Indies were a great side. It wasn't just luck. They had a style of play and a desire to play cricket that is missing now. I feel I can help in that area.

Based on what he has seen, he is convinced that the discipline is missing from the current West Indies team.

If you see the way they bat and bowl, there is a lack of discipline in their play, he said.

The bowlers, in particular, are easily bored. They bowl two balls in one place and they feel they have to bowl the third ball somewhere else because they didn't get a wicket.

The players, he said, must understand what was required to succeed in international cricket.

If you want to be at this level, you've got to be disciplined in your lifestyle, you've got to be disciplined in your batting and bowling.

You've got to operate as a team. It's not an individual game. No team can function on just individuals.

High fitness levels, a strong work ethic and the mental side of the game are also crucial.

There is a lot of psychology in the game these days, Butcher said.

Everybody is trying to get an edge. Most of the teams are pretty much the same in ability levels. It's the mindset that makes the difference. It's the only difference at the top.

Even so, Butcher feels it would take some time before West Indies can once more become world champions.

The top sides are not standing still. Even now, the Australians are looking for ways to make themselves better, he said.

We've got to go back to basics. Players have got to become more technical. They will have their natural ability, but they can't just rely on good eyes and reflexes.

Butcher also pointed to a lack of experience and a lack of planning for the recent decline in West Indies' cricket.

When we had a procession of great players in West Indies, there was belief that this would continue because West Indian cricketers are natural cricketers and it would just keep happening, he said.

The modern-day game has changed completely and there hasn't been a lot of planning in terms of academies, indoor facilities and so on.

© The Barbados Nation