Dear Editor,
Throughout the glory years of West Indian cricket, from the mid 1970s to the early 1990s, the West Indies Cricket Board appeared to be ‘playing’ a supporting role. The cricketing public knew there was a board, and that was it. The successes of the team both in Tests and One Day Internationals drove West Indies cricket.
Achievement on the field of play remains the key marketing component to our cricket, in spite of the significant developments to the game in recent times, namely more Tests and One Day Internationals, the increasing popularity of T20 and a considerable rise in players’ earnings. When we are winning, everyone wants to play us, and as a consequence there are more revenues from television rights, ticket sales and our cricket memorabilia.
The solution, therefore, is to first decide on a process that will correctly select individuals to manage our cricket, whose commitment and passion would be to consistently produce a highly competitive and professional unit on the playing field. A ‘victory now and then’ translates into poor administration, and though the task of administering West Indies cricket will always be challenging, finding solutions to problems is the hallmark of competent managers.
A once-proud institution must be never allowed to crumble.
Yours faithfully,
Suresh Balram
