A file photo of Clive Lloyd
West Indies great Gordon Greenidge has backed the newly-appointed chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd and urged the board to help him with the necessary tools to work with.
"The powers-that-be need to accept Clive, appreciate him and look upon him as the person he is, someone who can get the job done," Greenidge said.
"I just hope they recognise Clive's contribution to the West Indies and give him the necessary tools to work with. I don't see a problem at all with Clive but it may be a problem with the people he's working with or the people he reports to," he added.
Lloyd, one of the most respected captains the West Indies have ever had, replaced fellow Guyanese Clyde Butts as the new chairman of selectors earlier this month and was joined by fast bowling legend and another former Windies captain, Courtney Walsh, along with ex-West Indies players Eldine Baptiste and Courtney Browne.
Greenidge, who played 108 Tests and 128 ODIs, compared the West Indies with English Premier League giants Manchester United F.C.
"It is a bit like what's happening at Manchester United," Greenidge told Reuters.
"Everyone's expecting the new managers there to just pick up where Alex Ferguson left off - that's impossible. The new man needs to transfer a serious input of his thinking to his team and the way he wants them to go. He needs to build a team and explain how he wants them to go forward.
"It's the same thing with Clive (Lloyd). Unfortunately his job will be measured in terms of how successful the West Indies team is, that's always been the case, but I think a change around is necessary and he needs to do that straight away," he said.
Lloyd, who has also served as team manager, coach and West Indies Cricket Board director, had recently said emphasis needed to be placed on youth development.
"We have to think a lot more of our cricket and I hope that can be injected into our playing and the young players that are coming through because these Under-19 guys will be the future of West Indies cricket and if they can inculcate the right sort of things where this game is concerned, we will have a very good future," Lloyd said.
Lloyd, who captained the West Indies in three World Cups - 1975, 1979, 1983, has played 110 Tests and 87 ODIs and was credited with moulding the successful West Indies side of the late 1970s and 1980s.
West Indies completed a 3-0 one-day whitewash of Bangladesh on Monday but the hosts are ranked a lowly eighth in both the ODIs and Tests. The 2012 World T20 champions suffered 2-0 series defeats on their tours to India and New Zealand and recently lost a three-Test series at home against New Zealand.
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