A Welcome Historic Cricket Feat
West Indian cricket fans are celebrating the regional team’s historic defeat of Australia at that country’s prestigious ‘Gabba’. At the same time, however they are all hoping that the accomplishment is not a ‘flash in the pan’ but something that marks the commencement of a more sustainable approach to the game.
Brian Lara was crying at the conclusion of the match on Sunday, as he watched history unfold. Ian Bishop and Carl Hooper were also on hand, totally imbued with emotion and perhaps, a measure of disbelief.
It took 27 years for a West Indies team to defeat Australia on their own soil. This fact stimulated the emotive responses of West Indian lovers of cricket across the sporting world.
That the West Indies victory came at the Gabba rendered it even more historic for this is something that would forever hurt the pride of Australian cricket aficionados everywhere.
Finally, the devastating manner of the West Indies victory puts it in the annals of global cricket.
Lamar Joseph, still in pain resulting from the injured toe, recorded one of the best spells of fast bowling in history and this, against the leading test playing nation in the world.
Around the Caribbean, cricket fans are hopeful that Joseph is only just beginning and that he will mature into a genuine, consistent fast bowler. They may also be hoping that his exploits at the Gabba would serve as an inspiration to the rest of the cricketers on tour, especially the newcomers to realise their potential to the full, thereby ushering in a new phase in the sport at home and abroad.
Fed up with losing
For the peoples of the Caribbean, it matters what happens next. But for the moment, many are so fed up with losing over the past several years that they just want to savour the moment.
Many have been reaching into history to remind themselves of the heroism of the likes of Learie Constantine, George Headley, Alf Valentine, and Sonny Ramadhin. They also remember all too well, Worrell, Weekes, and Walcott, Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Wes Hall, and Charles Griffith. Then there we had Roy Fredericks, Gordon Greenidge, Haynes, Malcolm Marshall, Colin Croft, Garner, Ambrose and Holding, Clive Lloyd and Brian Lara. This list is by no means exhaustive but leaves many to ponder on why it is that the regional side has been so inconsistent through the years.
That Ireland, Afghanistan and the Netherlands have defeated us at some time, stands out as two of the most embarrassing moments in the history of Caribbean cricket.
The consequences of what can only be described as West Indies extensive cricket drought have been a significant decline in fans of the once dominant team. In the Caribbean, the team often plays to empty stands and little income from broadcasting of their matches in the region.
Individual Caribbean cricketers have become millionaires dating back to the Stanford experiment. Today, one season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) could lead to a West Indian cricketer joining the millionaire club. But even as players have earned millions playing the game across the world in cash-filled competitions, the same players have not lived up to the expectation of their once adoring Caribbean supporters.
Even die-hard Caribbean supporters have had a difficult time attending matches played in their respective countries.
At the national level, support for cricket has waned. Loss of interest is now common. Unfortunately, the leaders of the sport in countries across the Caribbean appear unwilling to embrace the criticisms levelled by the supporters whose patience has run thin.
The thought of witnessing one despicable loss after another has proven much too painful for many. Similarly, the losses against what some may see as ‘beginners in cricket’ evoke emotions that linger on.
The chronic decline of contemporary West Indian cricket
West Indies cricket has been in decline since the likes of Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd and others of that era left the international scene. Lara’s centuries, while elevating him to one of the remarkable ‘lords’ of the sport, did little to bring the regional team back to the pinnacle it once seemed to own.
The days when the West Indies could conclude a victory within three of the five days of a test match have long gone and almost everywhere the tables were turned on us. It also appeared that our game had so declined that we occupied the cellar position on the ranking table in the different versions. Occasionally, we appeared to rise from the ashes of decay to win the World Cup, only to just as easily lose the next edition.
For much of the cricketing world it was almost incomprehensible that the West Indies team, long acknowledged as the embodiment of the aspirations of our peoples, formerly colonised, could at once produce amazing players and yet be so disorganised as to fall into decline for more than two consecutive decades.
Cricket’s decline in the Caribbean led to several attempts at research for ‘cause’. The evident crisis in leadership of the sport spawned one administration after another with little improvement in the general performance of our respective teams in competitions. The odd victory was ‘music to the ears of die-hard supporters.
The period of research for ‘cause’ of the decline of the game in the region also saw open conflict between political leaders who grew up in the periods when we dominated the sport everywhere, and the leadership of the sport in the Caribbean. Reports were not considered sufficiently appealing to the sport’s administrators who increasingly called on the politicians to stay away from the sport’s operations but continue to provide funding to support their programmes. The situation, for the most part, became untenable.
One apparent explanation for the decline is the absence of leadership with a carefully established strategic plan that was developmental. There have been academies put in place but without clear mandates and lacking planning and financial and material resources. There has not yet been a carefully designed pathway for athletes in the sport of cricket in the Caribbean.
Elections at the various local cricket associations and even at the level of Cricket West Indies, have long been more political than based on meritocratic principles. Kisses and favours have been the order of the day.
Generally, West Indies cricket appears to have been evasive in the all-important area of research and development. Despite Clyde Walcott once being the President of the ICC, the leadership of the sport in the Caribbean has never been able to positively impact the decision-making process. We have not been creative in the development of the sport in our region. Instead, we have been slavish followers, often led by the nose.
The future
The arrival and immediate impact of Lamar Joseph on the current young and inexperienced West Indies cricket team and the recent devastation of Australia at the Gabba, may well offer the leadership of Cricket West Indies a very special opportunity to take control of the change that must take place in the way we develop the sport.
With LA2028 only four years away, it may well be time for CWI to take some very radical, innovative steps to lead meaningful change. The transformation process must involve all stakeholders of the sport in the Caribbean, especially the several national cricket associations.
The planning for LA2028 must be clearly developed and enunciated, transparent and accountable. This must necessarily include greater emphasis on the development of the respective national teams which will have the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics of 2028.
Being a team sport, cricket would have to work with the National Olympic Committees across the Caribbean to ensure their chances of success.
As far as the ICC is concerned, LA2028 must not be a one-off appearance at the Summer Olympics. To be retained on the sport programme for subsequent editions of the Summer Olympics, the sport would have to prove itself sufficiently attractive in every aspect. It now rests with the ICC and all its members to set realistic strategies to attain the level of success that the IOC and future host nations and cities would require.
With CWI hosting the ICC’s Cricket T20 World Cup later this year, all the Caribbean would be filled with high expectations, regardless of recent history. Newly elected president, Kishore Shallow, has already begun to place his own development strategy for the game in the region on the table, allowing for the unfolding of a new, innovative narrative that could transform how we do things.
The international community has always been excited by the energy that our players bring to the game of cricket, even in defeat. But our players do not always appear top possess enough an understanding of the history of the game and what it has meant and continues to mean for our peoples.
There must be greater emphasis placed on the education of our players on the sport’s history in the Caribbean, beginning at the primary school level. More must be done to have the region’s cricketing icons known to successive generations of children across the region and amongst the Diaspora. Theirs must be household names for our children. This should be the case for all our sporting icons in the different sports, not just cricket.
If the West Indies is to make Sunday’s achievement sustainable, we all must step forward, growing the sport by increased participation and support for that participation through to the attainment of sporting excellence.
