Asks Colin Stuart
The question whether or not nationality should play a role when selecting a coach for the West Indies cricket team should only be considered in specified preferential circumstances, as the ultimate objective should be if the prospective coach can respond to the needs of West Indies cricket.
Cricket is an inevitable component of the globalization market, a market which facilitates the internationalization of trade, involving a greater level of competitiveness and limiting preferential treatment. It therefore means that cricket services can be attained outside the boundaries of a specified location, such as the West Indies to meet the needs of its service providers, say the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
There has been for some time the question of the appointment of the West Indies coach based on the individual’s nationality. This question recently resurfaced when comments made by David Williams (the current coach of the West Indies team) was re-stated, suggesting that the WICB should have selected a West Indian coach. This was a statement made after the appointment of the Australian-born coach John Dyson. While I don’t intend to clearly dispute this point it would have been helpful to get a bit more clarity on the statement.
Cricket can be treated as either goods or services. It must be noted that many West Indian players have benefited from overseas assignments creating stiffer competition for potential players in foreign playing countries. However, modernising the game which would involve using coaching materials like manuals and apparatus such as bowling machines, though developed outside of the West Indies, is accessible. Due to technological advances and improved communication links development in the game of cricket within one section of the world can positively affect another part of the world.
In simple societies communication and other changes in culture were limited to specified locals or communities. As such, in simple societies the intellectual developments demonstrated in cultural changes were not necessarily passed on from one community to another. But, in industrial societies this fact is vastly different, since countries benefit from the intellectual development of each other. Thus, the advancement of West Indies cricket can positively affect those in other regions of the world, for example Australia and vice versa.
Revolutionising the game which involves the scientific study of body movements within cricket related activities were generally conducted outside of the West Indies yet West Indians have been able to benefit from such developments. Such benefits are a direct result of modernity which has been able to close in on time and distance. West Indians can still benefit from developments that have occurred in other parts of the world.
Without globalization, individuals can remain confined to the development processes that have taken place within their country or region. Thus, we find that globalisation has allowed international trade and in so doing competition, since it is this competition that allows individuals to access the best goods or services at the best prices.
Hence, when the WICB advertises for a coach for the West Indies team it would be fair of them to “continue” to invite and accept applications from desirable coaches who are not West Indian nationals. However, what is important here is the WICB’s needs assessment in determining the individual best fitted for the job. Obviously, the prospective coaches will have to demonstrate their knowledge and capability but this selection engenders competitiveness among interested coaches thereby generally facilitating the WICB with a situation that is best suited to improving their product – the cricketers.
However, in order to protect West Indian interests certain limitations or rulings can be formulated. For example, with regard to the processing of applicants for a West Indian coach, the WICB could make a ruling about the number of overseas applicants that will be invited for interviewing. Such a position would increase the probability of a West Indian national being chosen for the job, but does not limit the selection or appointment to a coach from the region.
It must be recognised that globalization has provided the mechanisms for internationalization of trade and it is important that structural systems (such as the WICB) embrace this concept, especially when they are otherwise dependent on foreign organisations and countries for structural or other support. Should the WICB confine the selection or appointment of the West Indies Team coach to a West Indian national it can have ramifications. For instance, the question of whether the WICB and its affiliate Territorial Boards are in a financial position to employ the numerous coaches in the region would have to be considered. In addition, consideration would also have to be given to whether they are prepared to adequately employ these coaches.
As a consequence, one needs to be careful when addressing the question of appointing a coach based on nationality. Should the WICB and the Territorial Boards not be in a position to adequately employ coaches in the region, they are likely to seek employment outside of the West Indies. Surely, it would not be expected that these unemployed coaches should remain at home in a position of loyalty and in hope that some future period would provide them with the opportunity of an appropriate coaching job in the region.
It is this sort of situation that makes the West Indian people susceptible to the internationalization of trade. The nationalizing of the West Indian coach could result in more stringent measures being implemented by foreign playing countries against the utilization of services from individuals in the West Indies, be it players or coaches. In fact, preferential treatment should only come into play when the assessors- the interviewers (of the WICB) have determined that there are at least two coaches who are “best and equally suited” for the coaching job and if the position involves a West Indian national and a non-West Indian national.
Only in such cases should a West Indian be given the job as coach of the West Indies team based on preferential treatment or otherwise nationality. It must be recognised that nationality does not necessarily imply loyalty. Thus, a West Indian or non-West Indian can be found to be loyal to the needs of the West Indian people, or in this case West Indies cricket.
