One can’t help but feel sorry for the present state of West Indies cricket.
Even as allegations are hurled back and forth by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) as to exactly which organisation is responsible for its present condition one is forced to look ahead to the upcoming Champions Trophy tournament in South Africa to see what lies in store for the team on the field of play.
Looking into our crystal ball the prognosis is not good.
Even without the use of clairvoyance one can tell that it would be extremely difficult if not downright impossible for Floyd Reifer’s team to emerge as one of the top two teams from their “Group of Death.”
The West Indies have been grouped with Pakistan, India, and Australia in Group B and the word “death” in this instance, has nothing to do with the impending demise of either the WICB or the WIPA (although both would be satisfactory solutions to the present impasse) but rather to the fortunes of two of those four teams.
The Champions Trophy tournament is held every two years and the West Indies team has a good track record at the tournament winning in 2004 and reaching the final in 2006.
In that final the West Indies flattered to deceive against opponents Australia whom they had beaten in the group stages.
However a total of 138 was not going to be sufficient and Australia won their first Champions Trophy tournament by eight wickets under the Duckworth/Lewis system.
This year, the West Indies will be without the inspirational captain Chris Gayle.
Gayle was voted player of the 2006 tournament but will miss this tournament along with most of the West Indies frontline players because of a contractual dispute between the WICB and the WIPA.
It means that the West Indies will be represented by a second string team.
Former West Indies wicketkeeper David Williams, the team’s new coach following the sacking of Australian John Dyson, is upset that the team is being referred to as a “second string” team and feels that his team should not be written off before the tournament starts.
“At the end of the day, whoever goes out there to play is representing the West Indies and is a West Indies team,” Williams told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) recently.
“I don’t think that people should write us off for the Champions Trophy. We have a young team and they would be going there to make a name for themselves,” he added.
Skipper Reifer makes a similar statement.
“I want the people in the Caribbean to know that this is a West Indies team that is dedicated to West Indies Cricket. This is not a second string team. We will do the six million people of the Caribbean proud at the ICC (Champions Trophy) tournament, he told Cricinfo.
Reifer’s reference to commitment seems an undisguised jab at the star players including Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul who, according to the WICB, have balked at signing contracts for the tournament on the insistence of their representative organisation WIPA.
Reifer’s statement that the team will do the Caribbean proud should be commended even if there are some who believe that that task is easier said than done.
Bearing in mind his lean returns with the bat and his team’s poor showing against Bangladesh, Reifer should in future let his bat and the performances of his team do most of the talking.
This is not to say that one should not be sympathetic with this assembled squad of experienced and rookie players who have dared to oppose WIPA and support the WICB in what is a nothing more than a nasty power struggle over money and more money.
One shudders to think what would have happened if all the players had heeded WIPA’s call.
Certainly then, there would have been no West Indies team at the Champions Trophy unless of course the WICB had given in to the demands of WIPA and its players.
Suffice to say that Reifer and his players have given the West Indies an opportunity to be represented (some would say under represented) at the Champions Trophy tournament which commences September 22.
The West Indies open up against reigning World Twenty20 champions Pakistan on September 23 at Johannesburg and follow up that match three days later with a game against defending champions Australia.
Their final group game will be against India on September 30.
All three teams are significantly stronger than Bangladesh which whitewashed the Reifer-led West Indians in both the Tests and one-day series in July/August this year.
Pakistan have developed a reputation of being inconsistent over the years but their recent performance in England when they strangled Sri Lanka to win the World Twenty20 tournament makes them formidable opponents to be coming up against first.
This year’s tournament has a new format and an increase in prize money with some US$4m at stake.
The ICC has restricted the tournament to the top eight teams (instead of the 10 previously) in two groups A and B.
New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England and hosts South Africa are in Group B.
Realistically the West Indies stand little chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Reifer, however, has a different opinion and clearly feels that his team can emulate the past teams.
“Like anybody, we will go into the Champions Trophy thinking we can win. I’m not saying that we will go out and beat everybody, but I think we have a young and talented team that can advance,” said Reifer.
The question is how far?
