{"id":91984,"date":"2013-05-04T11:06:37","date_gmt":"2013-05-04T15:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=91984"},"modified":"2013-05-05T07:57:44","modified_gmt":"2013-05-05T11:57:44","slug":"sports-take-liam-the-enigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/sports-take-liam-the-enigma\/","title":{"rendered":"SPORTS TAKE: Liam, the Enigma"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_89652\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-89652\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-89652\" alt=\"Ronald Smith\" src=\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ronald-Smith-300x245.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ronald-Smith-300x245.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ronald-Smith-642x525.jpg 642w, https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ronald-Smith-150x122.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ronald-Smith.jpg 1958w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-89652\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ronald Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">\u00a0Liam Sebastien has been under the microscope of his local counterparts from his entry on the regional scene over ten years ago. Unfortunately for Liam, he has not exactly received the warm embrace that other local successful sports figures receive. Liam\u2019s progress in regional cricket carries with it a label of nepotism due to the influence that some cricket observers feel his father, the Windwards team Manager Lockhart Sebastien, has had on his career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Although his first class career statistics are almost equivalent to that of the regular Windward Islands and West Indies captain, many eyebrows were raised when Liam was appointed captain of the Windward Islands in the absence of Darren Sammy. Critics got a firsthand view of Liam\u2019s leadership capabilities as he led Dominica\u2019s campaign in the 2012 Windward Islands Twenty20 competition. The captain\u2019s on-field gestures and body language when the game seemed to be getting away were far from inspiring. With less than flattering personal statistics, Liam found his way on the Windward Islands team for the Caribbean T-20 competition earlier this year, which was televised live via ESPN. During a match versus the CCC, the Windwards batted first, and lost seven wickets for a paltry score without Liam getting a knock. This left renowned regional commentators and spectators perplexed about his role on the team. However, Liam quickly silenced his critics by bowling a misery spell that included two wickets, helping the Windwards to a comfortable victory that had seemed unlikely. A few days later, in a chase of 140 versus Barbados, the Dominican confirmed his all round status by partnering with Sammy in a recovery from 57 for 5 to remain unbeaten in a four wicket win.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it is his fighting spirit that convinced the selectors to overlook several senior players with international experience and appoint Liam acting captain. Liam seemed to have justified the selectors\u2019 choice by leading the Windwards to their first regional Super 50 championship in thirteen years. With the semifinals and finals televised live, Dominicans got another glimpse of the leadership qualities of their local boy, this time under further scrutiny of regional and international observers. Significantly aided by the destructive bowling of Shane Shillingford and the prolific scoring of Devon Smith, 2013 has been one of the best in Windward Island\u2019s cricket history. While the invaluable contributions of Shillingford and Smith could not be ignored, the commentators were full of praise for Liam\u2019s leadership and had no reservations in crediting him for the success of the Windward Islands.<\/p>\n<p>By virtue of their top two finish in the preliminary rounds in the four-day competition, the Windward Islands would host the semifinal clash versus Barbados. Sighting the advantage that the Windsor Park Stadium would present, the players had little hesitation in selecting Dominica as their preferred host venue. The venue presented an almost perfect opportunity for Liam to continue to redeem himself, and win over the hearts of some local supporters by erasing any doubts of his leadership prowess. Fresh from the triumph in the Super 50, and with the form of Shillingford and Smith, the Windward Islands were heavy favorites to defeat Barbados. Having restricted their opponents to 95 for 7 halfway through the first day, it appeared that Liam\u2019s men were on the verge of advancing to the finals for a chance at the double. However, lower order resistance from the Barbadians frustrated the home team, leaving the impatient crowd in a state of restlessness, chastising the captain and once again questioning his leadership ability and even his place on the team. The agitation of the captain was evident, as his animated reactions to misfields and dropped catches signaled the frustration that does little to motivate his players at a time when they need it most. The team never recovered from what appeared to be a minor setback from a comfortable position, so much so that when their turn came to bat, wickets tumbled as regularly as a heartbeat. The Windwards eventually crumbled to defeat in less than five sessions of cricket.<\/p>\n<p>It is not totally fair to blame the captain for such an embarrassing defeat, but the anticlimactic nature of his home coming game in an otherwise very successful season only adds to the mystery behind his progress as a local and regional cricketer. Maybe the all rounder is trying too hard to prove the local skeptics wrong, or it is a case that he is much more comfortable playing at venues where the scrutiny is less intimidating and the fans are more tolerant and understanding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0Liam Sebastien has been under the microscope of his local counterparts from his entry on the regional scene over ten years ago. Unfortunately for Liam, he has not exactly received the warm embrace that other local successful sports figures receive&#8230;.","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-sports-take"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SPORTS TAKE: Liam, the Enigma - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/sports-take-liam-the-enigma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SPORTS TAKE: Liam, the Enigma - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0Liam Sebastien has been under the microscope of his local counterparts from his entry on the regional scene over ten years ago. 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