Cricket: Just do it!

Sep 11, 2009 Editorial

Not to the surprise of a single fan in the entire Caribbean, the WICB has scuttled the mediation efforts of Sir Shridath Ramphal to heal the breach between them and the WIPA. We will not rehearse the low-down stunt they pulled by introducing at the eleventh hour, completely new elements that forced even the extraordinarily experienced international diplomat to throw in the towel. The bottom line is that the WICB is simply not interested in West Indies Cricket per se, but only as a cash cow to be exploited for their self aggrandizement and personal benefits. This was exemplified by the temerity of the head of the WICB, Julian Hunte, to insult every one trying to move the process forward – ex-PM Patterson, President Jagdeo, Sir Shridath and not to mention the players.
Today, President Jagdeo, as the incumbent Head of CARICOM, will be engaging other heads via video-conferencing, to craft new initiatives to bring some sanity to the table. As we emphasised in a previous editorial, “Killing Cricket”, the heads cannot limit themselves to just discussing contracts and medical benefits etc. as suggested by CARICOM Secretary-General Carrington. What is killing WI Cricket is the structure of the WICB and unless this is changed, CARICOM will be aiding and abetting in the destruction of the institution that goes to the heart of our “West Indian-ness”.
Chetram Singh, the head of the local cricket board and consequently a member of the WICB, has been quoted as saying that while he “supported” the intervention of the WI Heads of Government (WIHOG), he doubted that they would accomplish anything since, “they could not enforce their decision on an independent WICB.” We are not sure if Mr Singh is not speaking from both sides of his mouth. Unlike the T&T Board that did not participate in the latest antics of the WICB (they supported the far-reaching reforms (including that of restructuring the WICB) of the Patterson Commission, which the Board shelved) Mr Singh went along. We can only read his statement as thumbing his nose at the “toothlessness” of the WIHOG on behalf of the WICB.
Our position is that this confounded nonsense must be stopped – and stopped right now. The governments of the region, in the face of grave financial hardships have made massive investments in the game. As we wrote in 2006, “To host the 2007 World Cup, Governments across the region have been pumping in mega-expenditures from their national budgets to bring their cricketing facilities into compliance with ICC standards. Right here in Guyana, with thirty-six percent of our population living below the poverty line, the Government has been criticised for borrowing US$20 million to finance a brand new stadium – not to mention the expenditures on roads and other ancillary improvements.
We believe that cricket is more than just a game to us as a people – and this is not mere repetition of a tired cliché. We are in a “globalizing” world in which our individual Caribbean countries give truth to the old saw that if we do not hang together, we will all hang separately…The bottom line is that since the earliest integrating effort in 1968, Cricket has been the only institution where there has been total agreement that we have to stay the course together.
We need to channel that understanding from Cricket into our wider associations. But for us to do that Cricket itself has to not only survive, but actually be ascendant. Only a winning cricket team can be the nucleus for our wider common identification. We really believe that trade concessions and cooperation will never provide the bonds to tie us together as one. Cricket can. And this brings us back from whence we started: the need to have a winning team now and in the future.
For starters, the administration of the game will have to be revamped both at the local and regional levels.” Nothing has changed in the last three years and nothing will change in the next three decades unless our heads of government, grab the WICB bull by the horns. They have earned that right by their investment in WI Cricket.

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