The state of regional cricket

As 2015 begins, those of us who still have the best interests of West Indies cricket at heat should be wishing at least for a change in its fortunes. Not only on the field of play where, despite an infrequency of brilliant performances over the years, we remain rooted in the nether regions of the International Cricket Council Test [8th] and ODI rankings [8th] and marginally better only [7th] in the T20 form of the game.

Further corroboration was lent to this ethos of inconsistency in the most recent test of the on-going South African tour when after a spirited and productive 176 run partnership by two of our batsmen, Messrs. Brathwaite and Samuels; we were forced to witness the familiar collapse of six wickets falling for a mere 42 runs.

Of course, the metaphorical 800-pound gorilla now in the room is the prospect of legal action for breach of contract against the West Indies Cricket Board [WICB] by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, claiming compensation for the premature abandonment of the tour to India in October 2014.

But there are other problems too. Even though the Task Force appointed by the WICB wordily concluded that WIPA and the WICB “erred significantly in failing to ensure that their vision for the future of West Indies cricket with its ramifications for the sharing of sponsorship money and the concomitant changes in the level of remuneration for both the senior cricketers and the new class of professional players was clearly understood…” and were thus contributory to the termination of the tour, the WICB has emerged intact and unscathed from this debacle.

Not so, however, a number of the senior players to whom the Task Force ascribed “a significant proportion of the blame”. Clearly the reasonable conclusion that might be drawn from their omission from the ODI squad for the current tour is that these gentlemen are being penalised for their “sins”.

Naturally, this has incensed more than a few regional cricket aficionados. One such prominent individual, the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, has blasted the WICB for the breach of its solemn undertaking that “none of the ‘India 14’ would be victimised or discriminated (sic) against” because of the abortion of the tour. While we are at a loss to understand why the WICB should have made such a commitment that effectively absolves the players of any fault, we are also of the view that if it was in fact made; the executive WICB is morally bound as men of honour to keep its word.

Further public criticism of the Board’s actions has come recently from a former president, Mr Pat Rousseau and eminent Kittitian Queen’s Counsel, Mr Charles Wilkin. These are less trenchant than that of Dr Gonsalves, although all three appear to be rooted in the nettlesome matter of selection of the regional squad -an issue that has long engaged the attention of most West Indian cricket fans, evoking allegations of insularity, racism and ageism in the various debates.

We hold fast to our thesis that if the exclusion of Messrs. Bravo and Pollard from the squad for the ODI’s in South Africa is indeed recrimination for their roles in the aborted tour, it is regrettable only if it was in breach of a prior undertaking. However, it must also be borne in mind that the selection of the team is not a matter for the WICB itself but for the appointed selectors and that these players have not exactly set the world alight with their performances during their careers.

Given the enormity and frequency of its faux pas in recent times, perhaps the current WICB executive should be replaced for similar reasons.