Three sporting figures would like to see cricket added to history curricula across the region.

This is because they believe there is a disconnect between the younger generation and its understanding of who West Indians are as a people and the role cricket plays in the region’s racial identity.

Communications expert and author Carole Beckford says cricket remains one of the elements of life that defines Caribbean people.

“The history of the sport in the region is rich and every effort should be made to sustain any programme that promotes cricket on and off the field,” she told the
Jamaica Observer. “While we are in a highly charged [monetised] environment, there is still space for the identity to be a vital part of the conversation.”

During the West Indies team’s tour of England in the summer of 2020, the world’s attention was placed on several global protests taking place because of the killing of George Floyd, a black American, by Derrick Chauvin, a white police officer. This led some athletes and teams to use sports as a platform to protest for racial equality. Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding, a commentator during the Test series, delivered an impassioned speech of his own about racial injustice and the need to educate society on the inequalities black people face around the world. This speech went viral, but many sharing the video on social media were not even aware that this was not the first time Holding has publicly spoken sternly on social issues.

At the height of the Windies’ success the team consisted of players who many say made up its generation in the 1970s. A number of these players were offered lucrative contracts to play in South Africa, which practised apartheid, a system of institutionalised racial segregation, at this time. Apartheid caused South Africa to be banned from international cricket, causing them to create their own competitions between 1982 and 1990, then known as the Rebel Tours.

The players, being black, were told they should not be afraid of touring South Africa, despite their race, as they would be treated as “honorary whites” while in the country.

This angered most of the players, with Holding even publicly saying having to be an honorary white suggests that there is something wrong with being black.

The players who refused the offer became heroes among the Windies fan base, but those who chose to play became villains and were essentially blacklisted upon return to the Caribbean.

Although West Indians were fully aware of the implications of the players going to South Africa and in turn showing support for a political system that at the time was attempting to sportswash its history, they also understood why the issue of racial pride among blacks was such a sore point to Holding and his teammates, such as Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Clive Lloyd.

Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association President Keith Wellington says there was a better grasp of the value of cricket and what it means to the region when the team was regarded as one of the best in the world.

“People understood, but as this generation has become more integrated and globalisation has taken place and people feel a lot more comfortable with each other, we don’t understand the social importance of cricket,” he told the
Observer. “I think if we’re going to get back to where we [were], we don’t need to prove to people that we’re better than them in terms of race, but if we understand what cricket has done for us, we’d pay more respect to it as a sport.”

Racism has been an issue in Caribbean cricket for decades before the Rebel Tour. The Windies’ anthem’s lyrics, written by David Rudder, say, “No noble thought brought us here to this region, but through it all, we have risen above,” about the Caribbean’s history of enslavement.

Cricket, colloquially referred to as “a gentleman’s sport”, was introduced in the West Indies through British colonialism and was the pastime of rich white plantation owners and their contemporaries who served in office in various territories on behalf of the monarch. Their games became more than just leisure when clubs were formed after the abolition of enslavement. But to play professionally meant spending long hours of the day fielding in the Caribbean sun. Who better to do this menial task than formerly enslaved men who were already used to hard labour on sugar plantations in this heat? This is where blacks were introduced to the game. However, they were only allowed to bowl and field, as batting was considered too complex a task for what the plantation owners perceived to be simple-minded black brains.

Eventually, middle-class blacks began forming their own clubs and were now able to bat and outplay their former overseers.

These and other more detailed lessons on racism and how cricket helped to force social change in the region are lost on many young West Indians as they are not part of the history curriculum at the primary and secondary levels in schools. Those courses that do teach of this past are, however, selected as electives at the tertiary level, meaning many West Indians still pass through a full education system without ever being aware of their ancestors’ experiences in this regard.

Beckford says history lessons should be structured to include cricket at lower levels of the education system.

“Schools’ curricula must be used as a tool to bring that generation up to par with history,” she said. “I know The University of the West Indies has courses that supplement that information, but that is not enough. There is enough literature available but policy education must be committed to engage the next generation by way of education.”

Wellington, who is also St Elizabeth Technical High School’s principal, agrees that more should be done to enlighten the younger generation.

“I don’t think we’re doing enough for people to understand,” he said. “Sports, in general, are not just games for people to compete physically, but a lot needs to be done for sports in terms of teaching the values, in terms of business and a social construct.”

Cricket West Indies President Dr Kishore Shallow says he does not believe a lack of understanding of the background is affecting the teams’ support. He does, however, see value in cricket being introduced to history lessons in schools as he sees it as a way to bring more understanding to young players looking to represent the region someday about what it means to wear the team’s colours.

“I do believe that there is still significant support for cricket in the region – West Indies love cricket because of the legacy, especially,” he told the
Observer. “But even in the way our young players are playing in Twenty20, and even ODIs [One-Day Internationals] there’s still great passion for cricket.

“It is, however, critical to sensitise our young players. I personally advocate that we encourage our schools’ cricketers to read more to understand the history and about the greats of our cricket. Fortunately, they have books out – Michael Holding has books out, Sir Wesley Hall, Sir Viv, Curtly Ambrose. I’d encourage the youngsters to read a bit more and just familiarise themselves more with West Indies cricket and the history of West Indies cricket. That is critical.

“Who knows, that might actually encourage young boys and girls to get involved in cricket.”

The
Observer sought a comment from Education Minister Fayval Williams on this topic, but calls and messages to the ministry went unanswered.