Despair, but also a glimmer of hope for West Indies cricket

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Early indications are that administratively West Indies cricket in 2012 will be struggling with very similar problems to those that have haunted it in recent years.

In the first week of January, news broke that the players' union, the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), had won yet another arbitration matter in its continuing struggle with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). WIPA announced it had been awarded US$2 million for alleged breaches of a Memorandum of Understanding and a collective bargaining agreement.

It seems the WICB — with overall charge of regional cricket — intends to appeal the arbitration ruling which WIPA claims is the "tenth" in its favour with "zero" to the Board.

No sooner had long-suffering cricket fans digested this, came the appalling news that the Guyana Cricket Board, apparently with the full support of the WICB, wanted to pull the national team from the regional Twenty20 tournament. Reports out of Guyana say the proposed action flowed from a decision by the Guyana Government to replace the executive of the national cricket board with an interim management committee headed by the legendary former West Indies captain Mr Clive Lloyd.

Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed and the warring parties pulled back enough for Guyana to be part of the ongoing tournament. But it appears the problems in Guyana's cricket remain highly contentious and far from being resolved.

At another level, it is clear that a negative perception of the WICB right across the region has hurt the confidence of stakeholders, not least sponsors and potential sponsors of cricket, leaving the sport starved of resources sorely needed for development.

The odd, amateurish handling of its stormy relationship with former captain Mr Christopher Gayle -- among the mega stars of global cricket -- underlined the Board's ineptitude.

Ironically, the off-the-field problems appear to be worsening, even as signs on the field have provided real reason for hope. For though the West Indies managed only two wins among 10 Test matches played in 2011, and got no further than the quarter finals in the International Cricket Council (ICC) 50-over World Cup played in Asia, a number of promising young players grabbed the world's attention.

The Guyana wrist spinner Mr Devendra Bishoo took the ICC's Emerging Player of the Year Award, while batsmen Messrs Darren Bravo and Kirk Edwards performed consistently and impressively against international opposition.

Just as important, the WICB's long overdue initiative in developing an academy programme through the Sagicor High Performance Centre appeared to make a positive difference for several promising young cricketers -- some of whom are now on show in the Twenty20 tournament.

There is the thorny issue of captaincy. For while Mr Darren Sammy is an admirably wholehearted and passionate cricketer, he has been unable to convince everyone that he is deserving of a place in the West Indies team. Sadly, the pressure appeared to be having an adverse effect on his cricket as 2011 approached its close with the West Indies in India. That captaincy issue will have to be resolved this year.

But at bottom line, West Indians are hoping that, regardless of the numerous problems, their team will find a way to blossom in 2012.

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GCT to go down, white rum prices going up

Despair, but also a glimmer of hope for West Indies cricket