My sincere thanks go out to Sir Ron Sanders who kindly remembered me among those persons who had been calling for new structures for our regional grouping as a prerequisite for implementation of the strategy required for developing a successful trading bloc. That process started with the West Indian Commission and has gone for two decades without a real effort to follow its dictates. My involvement over the last two decades has made me extremely tired of the lack of political will and intentional avoidance of the issues.

Numerous scholars, former political leaders, legal luminaries, among others, have been called in to review, study, and offer opinions on the way forward to no avail, as the political directorates of our region have much to gain by touting or vilifying the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, depending on whether they are in government or opposition.

They flagrantly change their outlook accordingly, and some have even gone full cycle by being voted out, changing positions on the platform, and being re-elected. Then they have to cope with the reality that the very things they just derided were signed into law by them during their previous stint as government. It is the pot calling the kettle black when they are both pot and kettle.

The timely letter of intervention by PM Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines hits a note of reality that has been carefully avoided over the decades by his colleagues. Still, I cannot help but wonder if that letter would have been written at all if he had suffered defeat in their last election, and if he was currently trying to get back in power before reaching the ripe age of four score and 10. Nonetheless, his intervention is timely and comes at a critical time.

Our PM Portia Simpson Miller is introducing elements that muddy the waters. The impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Chris Gayle is not necessarily a matter for Heads of Government, and certainly I am not aware of any other major sporting bodies that would allow a matter like that to take on such monumental proportions.

Top golfer Tiger Woods did not receive any sanctions from presidents George Bush or Obama. Football does not report to the European Union Parliament,most bodies throughout the world have their own rules for dispute resolution, and not even the T&T Parliament seems to be able to do anything about Jack Warner. So what’s this with the WICB?

What needs to be examined is the historical relationship between cricket and West Indian politics. Let us agree first of all that within the Caricom grouping the sport is of no relevance to Suriname, Belize, and The Bahamas. Second, let us look at the “old boys’ network” of the London students of the late 1940s and early 50s who formed the political leadership of the 1960s, and their raised self-esteem fostered by the successful WI team of that era. Third, those leaders cunningly crafted that into almost a cult where prime ministers could love no other sport more than cricket.

Fourth, membership of that club was passed down to successors, and national and regional business was fair game for disruption, delay, and irresponsibility when cricket was being played. Fifth, there are numerous examples of bitter division when it is felt that the “quota” division between Jamaica, Barbados, T&T, and Guyana was not evenly distributed (very much like government contracts to party hacks).

God help the Leeward and the Windward islands as they got the crumbs. Just imagine for a moment if the 11 most talented players came from a single territory and were selected. That would be war! We forget that we have almost totally dominated athletics for several decades and no other countries have cried foul!

Sixth, the previous organisational flaws apply to the board itself as the so-called electoral process is bent to the whims and fancies of the “old boys’ club” and rewards for retired politicians. So what can we expect of the board in terms of professional approach to what is now a lucrative sport? It cannot be dictated by whims and narrow insularity anymore.

I agree with our PM that the process has been drawn out too long, but I suggest that she not take offence to the WICB’s tactless response as it is entitled to disagree and is not bound by any conventions to be forced to offer respect to position alone. That is a master/servant anachronism. “You can’t answer me so, bwoy” is not an accepted norm in 2012. In fact, if a member of the WICB had made the stupid remark in Parliament as an opposition member it would have gone unnoticed, so let’s not execute it.

I urge our PM to leave it alone. She does not possess the look or gender necessary for entry to the club and neither does the PM of T&T, so as your esteemed advisor and predecessor PJ Patterson would say “Faget it”! This impasse is below your dignity, and more fools are born every day.

Chris Gayle has options in the court and perhaps in the Caribbean Court of Justice, and he should be free to utilise them, and the WICB has the right to defend itself and its actions. To further interfere will be to allow emotions and irrationality into the process. We have more pressing matters than cricket (oops! I guess I will never be a PM after that statement, and will just have to remain a geriatric without a party).

Minister AJ Nicholson wants reclassification of Jamaica for several reasons. He should remember that we set ourselves up as MDCs (More Developed Countries) in our regional trade agreements and gave more advantages to the LDCs (Less Developed Countries) based on our own inflated opinion of ourselves. All the LDCs have a higher GDP than we do; now we want reclassification. Well, we need to return to reality.

During the establishment of the Regional Development Fund, Jamaica again followed the lead of rich T&T and offered the largesse of our contributing to the fund but agreeing not to withdraw. How rich and noble we are, so why should we need loans, grants, and financing? Come on, even children are taught that they cannot have their cake and eat it!

This behaviour of being “a legend in our own mind” must stop now. We may indeed be the Emperor of the Caribbean, but someone needs to tell us that we have no clothes on. Let us face our own reality and change the way we do things that smack of grandeur.

Madam PM, my brother advised me early that if you bat for both teams you avoid a lot of fielding. My advice is to drop the Gayle issue and stick to your objectives. You are too beautiful to get in the “old boys’ club team”, so don’t be afraid to let them sit and reminisce about 1948 and 1952. Remember the words “51 storm me neva born” and try to influence change and action on important matters at Heads of Government meetings. We could gain a lot for the country through a good strategic focus that has nothing to do with cricket.