PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Daren Ganga feels authorities in the Caribbean must understand the role that decisive leadership plays in success in the game.

The Trinidad & Tobago captain made this observation when he delivered the feature address at the annual awards ceremony and dinner function of the Queen’s Park Cricket Club on Friday.

“The management and leadership of our team generate success because of planning, preparation, teamwork and the collective sharing of ideas,” said Ganga.

“The decision of players, captains and even umpires are evaluated in real time by millions of spectators.

He added: “Not only must players excel at the game of cricket, but we are being challenged to understand how to use the new tools of [the game], and appreciate the new spectator expectations.”

In the last five years as captain of T&T, Ganga has reaped huge success with the national side.

He has helped them to break their drought in the regional first-class competition with a title three years ago, three regional limited-overs titles, and a regional Twenty20 title which led to their participation in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in India last October.

“What do I mean by leadership?” he asked. “Like love, it is hard to define and while of course there are countless definitions, the one I find the easiest to remember is the ability to persuade others to support and follow you willingly.

“The ‘willingly’ part is essential because if your followers do not buy into you leadership style you are ‘dead meat’.”

Ganga felt that the CLT20 has presented many leadership lessons for the people of the Caribbean.

“It has shown us that we must be able to grasp an understanding of the importance of cricket, not only to the unity of the West Indies people, but also appreciate its value to all stakeholders such as sponsors, media, and the players,” he said.

“As the captain of T&T, I have had the pleasure of leading a motivated team, which not only plays excellent all-round cricket, but understands the importance of global branding through media and technology.”

Ganga noted the currency of respect today was money, and one of the major challenges in the game was finding the right balance between the need to run the affairs of the sport as a business venture against the desire to win and inspire.

He said money should never be the ultimate motivator in sports, but it plays an undeniably critical role in sustainable success.