Time to get a handle on WI cricket

CRICKET fans in Grenada and across the Caribbean must certainly be wondering where exactly our regional team is heading and how can the authorities arrest that as well as the state of the game as we know it.

Our cricket seems to have lost its way. The recent tours by the West Indies to India and New Zealand where we were walloped again highlight the sorry state of Caribbean cricket. The team came away from New Zealand with a draw in the 50 over version of the game, but lost the other formats in both countries at a time when it was thought there would have been a better showing.

Those concerns, in addition to the impressive performance by Australia, who prior to their series against England had lost momentum after having dominated the game for more than 15 years, tell the story of whether Caribbean cricket is coming or going. The Aussies had not been doing well and early last year were beaten comprehensively by England (in England). Somehow they regrouped and recovered and subsequently turned the tables on the English, whipping them 5-0 in the Ashes series and thereby signaling to the rest of the world that Australia’s cricket is back.

For the West Indies that must have been a bitter pill to swallow. Whereas Australia’s rebuilding had been taking place for about four to five years (if that long) in the Caribbean it had been going on since the team fell from the pinnacle of world cricket in the mid-1990s. So that while Australia has rebounded, somehow we have managed to fall from one crisis to another even though having in place a rebuilding programme.

The truth is that no one expected magic in preparing a fighting unit similar to what existed previously with the likes of Clive Lloyd, Vivian (now Sir Vivian) Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson, Larry Gomes, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall among the greats of that era. Fans recognised that it would take time to replace those players and were prepared to wait it out.

New measures were put in place in the rebuilding exercise. The programme included having new and younger players, and a broadening of domestic competitions to get our players fully equipped to take on the world. The set up included having under-19 and A team tours to other cricketing nations, inviting teams from other countries to participate in our annual four-day competition and T20 competitions. Changes were also made at the top of the administration of West Indies cricket, coaches were appointed, and there is better remuneration for players (including contracts).

Now it is up to the West Indies Cricket Board to take stock of the situation and deal with the real issues that are affecting both the team and the overall game. The Board has to be aware of what cricket means to West Indians. It is one of the few institutions that has brought Caribbean people here and in the diaspora together. While fans agitate about who should play or should not, at the end of the day they rally behind the team giving the players full support.

They accept as well that we cannot win all. But we have not been winning anything except for the recent World T/20 competition. It is up to the Board to get a handle on things.