Cricket is the Caribbean’s unifier and our pride

Dear Editor,
The 13th prestigious version of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) One Day Tournament is presently being played in India. However, the Inaugural World Cup champions, who went on to win the second championship and play in the finals of the third championship, have failed to qualify to play in this World Cup cricket championship.
The West Indies team is out of the tournament because of poor administration and poor performance of the team.
West Indies cricket team was indeed the best team in the world, and the Caribbean cricketers dominated world cricket. It is indeed sad to know that the millions of cricket fans in the Caribbean are now forced to look at the other teams from around the world, and not see their beloved team among them.
Where are our cricket administrators? Where are our Caribbean leaders? When will those responsible for the administration of cricket wake up from their slumber?
Cricket is the Caribbean’s unifier and our pride.
Cricket West Indies (CWI), the governing body for the sport in the region, is today a liability, and has been a total failure. Even though the CWI has commissioned several reports on the deteriorating state of the game, our status in world cricket continues to plummet, and we are nigh the bottom of world cricket.
Cricket has been failing at the club level in all the territories. The structure of West Indies cricket is being destroyed. West Indies was at the helm of world cricket in the 1980s. West Indies’ batting and bowling were world class. Brian Lara had to wait for his opportunity to get a place in the West Indies team. The batting line-up was mighty strong, and there was no place for any of the first six batsmen to be replaced. The bowling was lethal. The team was all supreme in all two versions, test and One Day International.
However, it must be noted that the administration was bungling as the players became undisciplined. It cannot be denied that it was indiscipline that led to players calling for strike action, and some refusing to play in the team. Further, the administration’s tolerance for some level of indiscipline was the cause of insularity and poor selection of the West Indies team.
West Indies cricket desperately needs the immediate intervention of Caricom Heads of States. It would have been better for us to not play in the present World Cup because of Caricom intervention, rather than us being booted out by failing to qualify for a place in the prestigious championship.
Today the West Indies team is ranked eighth in Test cricket, less than tenth in ODIs, and seventh in T20Is in the official ICC rankings. This sad state of cricket in the Caribbean must be carefully debated and strengthened.
The CWI must face up to the reality that the talent and potential are not evident in West Indies Cricket. Look at the Trinbago Night Riders CPL team. That team is being referred to as “dad’s army”, the nucleus of that team all being pensioners from IPL. And the other teams seem to be heavily dependent on the foreign players.
The West Indies four Day tournament must be better organized; the ODI tournaments must be more competitive, and the Twenty20 tournaments must be more attractive to more players in the Caribbean. As for women’s cricket, much more attention will have to be placed in the respective countries.
The just concluded CPL tournament was a big success for the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Moreso, it was indeed the fresh initiative and carnival flavour added to the biggest sport in the Caribbean. Cricket is a major attraction.

Sincerely,
Neil Kumar