It is generally accepted that the current global financial crisis was brought about by a toxic combination of greed and gullibility. The crisis afflicting West Indies cricket can be similarly attributed to a deadly combination of greed, incompetence, intransigence and unaccountability. Sadly, as the impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) drags on, it is increasingly unclear how exactly these flaws can be apportioned.
The WICB’s dismal failings over the years have been well-documented. Indeed, we thought that things had come to a head last February, when the Second Test between the West Indies and England, at North Sound, Antigua, was abandoned after just 10 balls because the ground was woefully under-prepared. At the time, Michael Holding had attacked the culture of buck-passing and the lack of accountability in West Indies cricket and had cynically noted that, as in Jamaica in 1998, nothing would happen.
We had not wanted to believe that the covers would simply be brought on over such a scandalous and shameful affair, and we had called for the resignation of the WICB President, Julian Hunte, and Chief Executive Officer, Donald Peters. But Mr Holding was right – nothing happened. And Mr Hunte shamelessly piggybacked on the West Indies’ series victory over England, positioning himself for the cameras at every opportunity, even going so far, as Tony Cozier has pointed out, to break with accepted protocol to present the Wisden Trophy to the West Indies skipper, Chris Gayle.
All the while, the players have generally been the beneficiaries of the public’s sympathies, in spite of their own inconsistency and under-performance on the field and indiscipline both on and off the field. They have been given the benefit of the doubt in one awful display after another, being regarded as victims of the WICB’s autocratic and incompetent management. Even when they went to England last May and were obviously unhappy to be there, getting thoroughly thrashed in the two Tests and the one-dayers, many were willing to point the finger of blame at the board for agreeing to a last-minute tour under less than optimum conditions.
But Mr Gayle chose to delay his arrival from the lucrative Indian Premier League in South Africa a mere two days before the First Test, was lacklustre as player and captain, and compounded it all by indicating that he was no longer interested in playing Test cricket. The team’s lack of motivation and professionalism was visible to all and simply unacceptable. That is perhaps when the tide of public opinion began to turn.
Then when WIPA called the players out on strike on the eve of the series against Bangladesh, it was revealed that, notwithstanding genuine grievances with the WICB, West Indies cricketers were actually very well paid indeed, regardless of how they performed – a clear case of wages outstripping production, to paraphrase Dr David Hinds – or regardless of the ability of the WICB to remain financially viable.
As we all know, the West Indies suffered the humiliation of being swept by cellar-dwelling Bangladesh in the Tests and one-dayers. It hardly matters that the West Indies fielded a second or third string team. History will show that the West Indies lost – yet another blot on the proud record of West Indies cricket directly attributable to the non-performance rather than the under-performance of a certain group of players, who have put themselves above the game and their region. As Professor Hilary Beckles has pointed out, the “new ideology” is “cash before country.”
WIPA must share the blame with the WICB for this fiasco. That the two bodies could not have effected a compromise for the greater good of the regional game speaks volumes for the attitudes of those involved, their complete disregard for the heritage they have progressively frittered away and their contempt for West Indies cricket’s main stakeholders, the long-suffering and loyal fans. Now, even as the standoff continues and Sir Shridath Ramphal attempts to broker a solution, both sides are digging in their heels. The WICB – incredibly or true to form, depending on one’s personal outlook – has re-elected the failed leadership team of Mr Hunte and Dave Cameron as President and Vice-President respectively. Mr Hunte himself appears deaf to the howls of public protest from across the region, even those coming from the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), which boycotted the WICB’s annual general meeting because of its unhappiness with the status quo and its concern at the WICB’s failure to restructure itself as recommended by the PJ Patterson report. The message from Mr Hunte and the WICB is clear: it is business as usual.
In addition, there has been a hardening of the WICB’s attitude to the erstwhile strikers, none of whom have been chosen for the ICC Champions Trophy in September. However, all players who participate in the regional limited-overs tournament in October will be considered for the tour to Australia beginning in November.
For Mr Hunte, the strike action represents, “the highest form of disregard and disdain for West Indies cricket.” Even Joel Garner, a bona fide West Indian legend, now the President of the Barbados Cricket Association and a director of the WICB, has said that the WICB “has to draw the line” and it was time players realized that representing the West Indies was a “national duty” and “an honour.”
Significantly, Mr Garner has also said that the WICB must accept some responsibility for the current impasse and, “We can’t keep doing things business as usual. We have to look to see how best we can improve West Indies cricket.” He has admitted that the WICB needs restructuring and reorganization, but feels that WIPA does as well. A former member of WIPA himself, he has stated that he finds WIPA impossible to deal with, is personally fed up with the constant threat of strikes and feels that the WIPA leadership is not providing players with sufficient information and guidance in contractual matters.
It is somewhat encouraging then that at least two of the WICB’s more respected directors, Mr Garner and the TTCB president, another former West Indian great, Deryck Murray, recognize that it cannot be business as usual at the WICB. But is there sufficient critical mass within the WICB to effect real reform? Who or what will propel the WICB to transform the WICB into a modern, efficient cricket administration, more transparent and accountable to all its stakeholders? And who will bring to account those very men charged with safeguarding the welfare of the regional game, administrators and players alike, but who seem determined to pursue their respective, self-serving agendas?
In all this, Tony Cozier’s opinion is instructive: he is firmly of the view that the conflict between the WICB and WIPA is nothing more than “a power struggle for control of West Indies cricket,” rooted in the personalities and personal agendas of their respective principals. But in the battle of wills between Mr Hunte and Mr Ramnarine, as they fight for the body of West Indies cricket, they have virtually killed its soul.
The mediation process, which Sir Shridath says is still alive, is therefore the last resort. Sir Shridath has pledged to do his utmost to achieve a resolution, but he himself has recognized that he “cannot prevail against a Board and players in a suicide pact,” though his task is to prevent that “fundamentalist folly.” We have no choice now but to trust in his famed negotiating skills and hope that good sense ultimately prevails.
