Long on Nostalgia, Short on Creativity
Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Chair of the Caricom Heads of Government Regional Sub Committee on Cricket, welcomed many individuals and organisations to his country last week, 25 – 26 April 2024, as he hosted the Caricom Regional Cricket Conference, under the theme, ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’.
The Conference was billed as A Symposium for Strategic Collaboration and Innovation. Rowley began by setting the stage for the two-day event, by insisting that there is no intention to give up on the game. It is far too important to the Caribbean to be left alone and hence the Conference. He thought that there is great dissatisfaction without our attempts being made to manage the game in the Caribbean.
Rowley made a distinction between cricket the game and cricket the business noting that there is management of cricket the game and management of the business of cricket. He articulated the importance of greater attention being paid to both aspects of the game in a manner that appropriately addresses the concerns that have been plaguing the region over the past several years.
The Prime Minister indicated his support for the fact that West Indies cricket is a very strong brand and insisted that despite the acknowledged evidence of insularity negatively impacting progress, the regional game could benefit from the rich diversity that characterises the region, helping to sustain the momentum towards regional integration.
At the conclusion of the Conference, it is difficult to state with any measure of clarity that the event has made any significant contribution to the advancement of the sport of cricket in the Caribbean.
The Conference appeared long on nostalgia and short on creative ideas for meaningful change in the sport across the region.
Nostalgia
Much of the Conference featured a consistent, and at times, annoying, rehashing of times past when West Indies cricket climbed from a fledgling group of British colonies mimicking the sport of their colonisers to dare reveal an abundance of talent that catapulted the regional team to international dominance.
There was the repetitive storytelling of the origins of the dominant period, carefully, almost embarrassingly, ignoring the era which was characterised by the meticulous intertwining of West Indies cricket with the politics that eventually led to the Independence movement that swept across the region in the 1960s and 1970s. This may well explain why the work of CLR James and Learie Constantine were scarcely mentioned as pioneers in this aspect of global cricket.
Participants at the Conference, including several West Indies Cricket Legends, spoke glowingly of the successes and the joy that it brought to the peoples of the Caribbean. One cricketing icon after another was fondly remembered and their stories told with emphasis on their individual and collective impact on the sport across the region.
There was much lamentation on what was sadly described as the decline in the sport. This really translated into a near-pathetic emphasis on accusations that the leadership of the sport over the years have not been exemplars of good governance.
One consistent charge against the sport’s leadership was the lack of collaboration amongst stakeholders, especially governments, and the divisiveness of the very institution that governs the sport in the region. Much was made of the relatively small numbers of persons on the Board of Cricket West Indies.
There was also much discussion on the seeming failure of the leaders of the regional organisation to adopt an appropriate business model to galvanise sponsorship on a long-term basis to allow for the sport to be sustained on a solid financial foundation.
Generally, the Conference reflected a strong sense of disappointment by many of the former players that they have not been brought into the fold of those who have been elected to administer the sport in the region. They want to be involved, bringing their own ideas and experience to bear on the way in which the sport is managed.
There was also a strong sense from political leaders of the region that they are concerned about their absence from the decision-making process that obtains in West Indies Cricket. While care was taken to avoid any public declaration that this interest may well be driven by their provision of the sport’s infrastructure, more than anything else, it was nonetheless evident that they wish to have a greater role in the decision-making process, especially given the popularity of the sport and its capacity to allow them greater public recognition at the local, regional, and international levels.
Michael Holding’s brief intervention was easily the most inspiring. He was very pointed in the areas of his criticisms and invigorating in his proposals for meaningful change. His articulation of the role and responsibilities of government s of the region regarding cricket development hinged on general oversight of an order that should be the case for any institution that accesses government funding and use of the latter’s facilities – transparency and accountability.
A critical analysis
CARICOM continues to miss the boat on sport and the important role that it can and must play in the development of each of the organisation’s member States.
Unless the CARICOM Heads attain a level of understanding of sport, they would consistently mistake the leaves for the forest.
By establishing a CARICOM Cricket Committee, the regional heads of government have buried their heads in the sand and hence the Conference gave little direction to the one sport that has been its reason for being.
Cricket is one of the sports practised in the region but by no means is it today, the most successful or us as Caribbean people.
Athletics has been the sport that has brought the most to the Caribbean in terms of international acclaim and enduring recognition. Since Arthur Wint won the 400m at the Summer Olympics in London in 1948 and the Jamaican 4 x 400m relay team won the event at the Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, four years later.
Over the past several editions of the Summer Olympic Games, Caribbean women have literally forced themselves onto the front burner of international sprinting in athletics, to such an extent that their performances have been consistently more appealing to viewing audiences than their male counterparts.
The Caribbean has been the one country that consistently attains success in disciplines on the Olympic athletics programme. The statistical evidence is there for anyone interested in following our region’s performance in international sport.
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have made it to the final 24 teams to the FIFA Football World Cup, again, lifting our region to further global recognition in and through sport. Several Caribbean players have made it to the top of professional football teams with significantly larger international viewership than any other sport.
For the CARICOM heads to single out cricket as the lone regional sport that deserves their attention is an indictment on the crass inadequacy in respect of understanding sport. This therefore inhibits their capacity to address the more fundamental issue of the role of sport in national and regional development.
It is small wonder then that while several of our regional governments have created national sports policies, none have facilitated a comprehensive sport tourism policy that gives pride of place to sport in their broader national development strategies.
It is not surprising that the CARICON heads have been unable to establish greater collaborative mechanisms that allow for best practices in sport to be readily shared, analysed and tweaked to facilitate regional development.
Culture
Throughout the Conference little reference was made to the role of culture in defining what sports are practised and the varying levels of support given to the different sport organisations, the conduct of surveys on sport performance and the implementation of consistent monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) mechanisms.
While many at the Conference eagerly challenged the current Cricket West Indies’ leadership on the governance structure in place, none attempted to discuss the cultural norms that dictate how governance is practised in government and its institutions at the individual national level as well as at the regional level.
Our culture of governance is essentially an annoying type of benevolent dictatorship where those elected as expected to lead and the electorate to blindly follow. Centuries of colonialism and decades of neo-colonialism have spawned a sort of debilitating model of governance that is everywhere evidence. Our governments and many others at the Conference appealed to Cricket West Indies to effect change in their mode of operation that they are unwilling to undertake in their respective jurisdictions.
We are inadequate in our understanding of the dynamics entering and impacting sport. One has only to re-examine the innovations brought to cricket by Kerry Packer in the 1970s, and those now being spawned by the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The rather brash entry of LIV into the sport of golf as well as the pending initiatives that are impacting football across the world.
Cultural change takes time and is impacted by numerous factors every moment of every day in every society. In this regard, therefore, change must begin at the level of the family, society’s most basic social institution. Bear in mind that in many of today’s societies, the family is under threat. There lies our first major and enduring challenge to change.
Today’s Caribbean societies are woefully short of good examples of leadership in the home, the school, the government, and the church.
Sports that fail to innovate will forever mark time like soldiers in the desert. Progress will be barely discernible.
We must adopt a culture of innovation is all aspects of Caribbean society.
Epilogue
US scholar, Eddie Glaude Jr of Princeton University just published his new book, “We Are The Leaders We Have Been Looking For’ (Harvard University Press – ISBN 9780674296725). The message is crystal clear. We as a people, must consistently resist the temptation and cultural baggage of believing that we are not good enough to be part of the decision-making process. We must not hand over our power as members of society to those whom we elect to lead us. We are to inform, support, monitor and engage in constant dialogue, those who we place in positions of authority.
All of us as Caribbean people love sport, and we welcome all those organisations that promote sport and give hope of new career paths to our children and youth. But we also have a responsibility to remain involved. However, a responsibility befalls us all to educate ourselves and all around us on sport if we are to aggressively participate building sustainable successful sport in the region. Nostalgia is good. But it must take us on to innovation to advance sport in the Caribbean more generally, cricket being only one of them.
