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The end of West Indies cricket

7/16/2009

In this, the season of double entendre, the title of today’s essay requires explanation. We do not intend thereby to signify the pessimistic meaning of demise which could reasonably be placed upon it after the circumstances of our most recent loss to Bangladesh. Rather, it is meant to herald an analysis of the purpose or object of our cricket; precisely why we play the game. Thereby, we hope, to use a Paul Keens-Douglas bon mot, to rearrange the seeming ignorance of both the sport’s industrial partners, the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) who, with their frequent disputes, sundry arbitrations, actual or threatened withdrawals of services and hopeless demands for apologies, appear most unmindful of this end.

Our cricket is bigger by far than its controlling body, the WICB, or the WIPA or the individual players themselves. Our cricket has become, over the years, a unifying force that binds the region together; that for a moment will make us forget the irrelevant distinctions of race, class, educational achievement and national origin which would set us apart. Long before there was a Federation, or a CARIFTA, a CARICOM or a CSME, there was a West Indies cricket team. And we have celebrated its famous victories – Lords in 1950; Adelaide in 1993; Kensington in 1999; to name but three –, and we have mourned its tragic losses.

There have been the magical moments, too – Holding’s over to Boycott; Sobers’ cover drive off Jeff Jones; the first 48 runs of Lawrence Rowe’s eventual 302…These exploits are the stuff of regional legend and we might never again achieve these heights, but we owe it to the memory of the giants who preceded this present crop of players not to go gently into that not so good night of being the nethermost in the world rankings.

We would be among the first to concede that we inhabit a different world from that in which these heroes played. Cricket can no longer be considered the unchallenged King of Sports in the region; the lure of relatively substantial financial gain now overshadows the mere passion for the game for the modern player, and this has brought with it the language and mores of industrial warfare, crass commercialism and one-upmanship. This metamorphosis has unfortunately been allied with a phenomenal propensity for snafus by the WICB, thus ensuring the present chaos.

If we are to maintain our dignity as a cricketing nation, then both parties must be taught, in a figurative sense, the facts of life – that the pride of a region depends on the performance of the team. First, their relationship must be reconfigured in such a way as to ensure the least friction. This may entail the termination of the current employment relation and the creation in its place of a status whereby on selection to the team a player will adhere to the contract for that year agreed to in advance between the WIPA and the WICB under arbitration. Alternatively, a player may be contracted to the team for a term of years under conditions similarly agreed to by his agent with the WICB.

Second, both organisations must indulge in some serious introspection. The WICB, to its credit, has already done such, with the team led by Mr. P J Patterson. However, the resulting report’s most celebrated recommendation, that of reforming the WICB itself, has understandably not been acted upon. We are not aware that the WIPA has undertaken any such self-analysis. But, for the end of regional cricket, we would urge its soonest adoption.

Indices

as of close 9/15/2009


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