Greg Barclay and WI Cricket

Dec 07, 2024 Letters, Sports

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Dear Editor

The outgoing chairman of ICC Mr. Greg Barclay recently questioned the sustainability of Cricket West Indies which has received less than 5% of ICC revenue under the 2024-2027 model, pointing out that CWI can barely balance their books. He proposed eliminating full member status at ICC and the implementation of a merit-based system where ranking and revenue will depend on “on and off” the field performance.  Significantly he mentioned Barbados’ participating in the Commonwealth Games independently as a possible glimpse of the future.

As expected, West Indies supporters were shocked and taken aback at the bold but accurate assessment of the current status but some are in perpetual denial and are adamant that West Indies cricket must remain, knowing fully well that after forty (40) years of rebuilding they are worse off than from where they started. And there is absolutely no indication that the fortunes will change since the current administrators seem to be just enjoying the perks that come with their status.

I am proud to say that I lived through the period when WI was struggling after many of its stars had aged and they had to rebuild, which was successfully done under Sir Clive Lloyd. I lost sleep during the 1975/76 series when we got a 5-1 trashing from Australia in Australia, but I never gave up nor lost hope because at that young age I felt and knew that West Indies had the players with the intestinal and testicular fortitude to put West Indies as the top cricketing team in the world.

There was no elaborate Secretariat with high paying staff then, with all the current “BS” and it is no secret that the then WICBC had a reputation for having some of the most difficult and ungrateful bunch of Colonial minded leaders. But the players were quality players and they played with pride, dignity, passion and determination. I have no doubt that some level of insularity existed, but four (4) decades ago the emergence of some questionable leaders and administrators whose personal objectives were not in the best interest of West Indies cricket but rather on territorial dominance played a good hand at destroying West Indies cricket. They ensured that the cancer insularity is alive and well in West Indies cricket today.

Like it or not Greg Barclay’s comments are very relevant and should be taken seriously because other countries have surpassed West Indies with their level of cricket and it is only fair that they are rewarded for their improved performances. I do believe that it is unfair for a country to enjoy “Full Member” status while there are other countries that are better than them. And what sense does it make that CWI have the “status” but its cricket is rubbish and you cannot earn revenue to sustain yourself? When you look at the quality of some of the current players and compare them with those of most, if not all the other test playing nations it is very depressing.  There is nothing to give you comfort that West Indies cricket will improve within the next five (5) years.

And I had recognized this trend which motivated me to write letters in January 2019 and October 2022, calling for Guyana to exit West Indies cricket and for the Government to implement a sports policy by utilising knowledgeable past players to develop a short and long term plan with the objective of developing cricket from the school level, engage our trained coaches to execute the plan and establish a cricket academy to properly prepare our players for international cricket among other things.  I had also called for development stadiums in Berbice and Essequibo of International standards.

Barbados going to the Commonwealth Games independently was an eye opener and I did not hear the “purists” making negative comments. In fact, it demonstrated the fact that going alone, independent of the West Indies team was favourably considered somewhere in the West Indies and I say here and now that it should be considered and implemented by Guyana.

CWI cannot sustain itself under the current circumstances and its administrators do not know what to do to change the fortunes of West Indies cricket. It is therefore inevitable that West Indies cricket will only decline further and I can bet anyone that merit performance will eventually be implemented by ICC and your guess is as good as mine that West Indies will end up where they belong.

I repeat my call for Guyana to exit West Indies cricket, set up our structure to identify and groom talent from the school cricket level and I am sure as the sun sets today that it will rise tomorrow, we will be better off five (5) years from now than if we stay with West Indies cricket.

It will be a painful exercise to walk away from the group after all these years, but change is a constant in life. Albert Einstein said that ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Guyanese are known to be smart and intelligent people.

Yours truly

Eric Whaul

(Greg Barclay and WI Cricket)

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• Commonwealth Games, Cricket West Indies, current administrators, WICBC

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