Dear Editor,

One of the enduring delights of a misspent life as an attorney, sports journalist, and political busybody is how witnesses and politicians, in particular, forget things they have said or written.

For the courtroom lawyer, few pleasures surpass the delight of reminding witnesses of prior inconsistent statements or, as here, at least one that was a totally different tact from the one they are now taking.

One of the enduring memories of the great Michael Holding was his beautiful run-up, which almost exceeded the hostility, accuracy, and swing which he executed at the end of his Rolls Royce approach.

Sadly, at another of the recent talkfests in Trinidad and Tobago about the decline of West Indies cricket, Holding, now a retired player and commentator, appeared to have belatedly joined the misguided band of ex-players, politicians, and academics who, as they have for the past 25 years of decline, identify governance, accountability, transparency, audits, money, etc as cures for what ails our cricket.

So before he loses his line and length completely, let me gently remind Holding of his past bouncers.

It is Holding who, in the past, has made some of the most perceptive, profound analyses of what ails our cricket. In his book Whispering Death, at the end of his long run, he writes: “Our biggest problem in the West Indies, certainly in Jamaica, is the declining standards of our club competitions from which we get our future stars. The exodus of our best players on pro contracts in Britain and even Holland during the summer months has diluted the strength of the club game, leaving mediocrity in its wake…when I first played Senior Cup cricket in Jamaica, I was among two or three schoolboys good enough to make it at that level. Now there are 20 or so, some not good enough even to play for their schools, just making up numbers. It means the competitive edge is gone…Not only have standards dropped but so has public interest…”

Things are much worse now, Holding, and the only bright sparks to arrest the decline are, club competitions, as you have identified, as well as school competitions. It is good that the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association Dr Donovan Bennett seems focused on youth competitions rather than talking about governance.

The other profound statement by Holding was made after a mid-20s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand when he stated that West Indies do not play “intelligent cricket”. When another commentator, a white man, said the same thing, he was accused of making a racist comment. Since we couldn’t accuse Holding of the same, we simply ignored him.

But Holding was dead on middle stump. For cogent evidence look no further than the second Test in Trinidad against India last year. On the first day, on a fresh pitch, with Kemar Roach attacking batsmen with the new ball in the first two overs, perceptive commentator Curtly Ambrose observed, repeatedly, that wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva, who plays local cricket on the Queens Park pitch, was gathering the ball at his knee or below and suggested he take two steps forward. Da Silva did not. Jermaine Blackwood, then vice-captain, did not advise Da Silva to do so, neither did skipper Kraigg Braithwaite at mid-on, nor did Roach. The plethora of coaches who obviously were not listening to the television commentary as they should have been doing did not advise him to do so either.

This went on for two hours before lunch. Finally, in the last over before lunch, the Indian opener edged to slip but, alas, to the slip fielder’s ankle. He dropped it.

Cricket, back in Holding’s day, as now, is played on the field by players, coaches, and selectors. The six “can’ts” of West Indies cricket — can’t bat, can’t bowl, can’t field, can’t captain, can’t coach, can’t select — have not been corrected over 25 years by endless talk and dust-gathering reports about governance, transparency, audits, accountability, etc. Those who market these themes have not been able to connect the dots to what takes place on the field. And based on Einstein’s dictum on insanity, are they likely to in the next 25 years?

The solution requires laser focus on what Holding addressed once upon a time. Go back to bouncers. Forget the full tosses.

Errol Townshend

Ontario, Canada

ewat@rogers. com