Speaking last Tuesday on the topic `Nationalism and the future of West Indies cricket’ at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados, Hilaire gave vent to views which have been heatedly and repeatedly expressed by many a frustrated West Indian fan.
Aside from the board’s own well-documented failures which have contributed in no small way to the present state of the region’s game, Mr Hilaire shone the spotlight where it should be directed the brightest: the players.
He captured the mindset of the cricketers very well. Said Mr Hilaire “I listen to our players speak, and they speak of money, that’s all that matters to them – instant gratification”. And again “Sometimes when you speak to the players, you feel a sense of emptiness. The whole notion of being a West Indian, and for what they are playing has no meaning at all”. On the prospects of the U-19’s replacing the current seniors wholesale, Mr Hilaire was not optimistic as he despairingly revealed that almost half of them could barely read or write. “The simple fact is that we are producing cricketers who are not capable of being world-beaters in cricket. It’s just a simple fact”.
One can almost predict that the West Indies Players Association will begin feverish agitation against Mr Hilaire for his forthright remarks but let it be clear that he has done us all a favour by refocusing our collective lens on the players who continue to let us down with inane and uninspired cricket against often tepid competition.
Understandably Mr Hilaire doesn’t see a quick solution to the malaise and mediocrity that have effortlessly inhabited West Indian cricket. He optimistically said that fans would have to endure “about three more years of embarrassment” from their cricketers and quite correctly observed that the players and the quality of their play reflect the declines and contortions that are evident in all aspects of West Indian society.
“We as a region have some real issues and problems that are producing young men in particular, that cannot dream of excellence. Excellence for them is about the bling, and the money they have.
“Our cricketers are products of the failure of our Caribbean society, where money and instant gratification are paramount”, Mr Hilaire asserted.
There is no easy or readily prescribed solution to what ails the wider society and how this is feeding back into the mien of the players and their poor performance on the field. What is readily apparent in the demeanour of the players is the focus on self, self gratification and the absolute ignorance or unlearning of what donning that famous maroon cap meant to the world beaters who prevailed so marvellously and ruthlessly under a series of bonafide stars who starred but were never concerned with starring. From Headley to the three W’s to Lance Gibbs to Lloyd to Richards and the unflustered Larry Gomes who could magisterially tie down an end, the list of those who acquitted themselves well in the cause of the West Indies is long and illustrious.
Perhaps one way of instilling these values by association in the current crop is to have them pass a rigorous written test on the records of these gentlemen.
Sadly, the culture of now and immediacy prevails. Conversely, the culture of a carefully crafted, chanceless hundred over three sessions has been cast out of the calculus.
Mr Hilaire pins his hopes for the team’s redemption on an academy. “Until the High Performance Centre, as a structure of support that has been created now to prepare the next generation, we will suffer a lot of embarrassments and a lot of awfulness, because our present cricketers are not prepared”, he averred.
There is also another line of attack that the board may wish to consider to take care of two major contributors to the disintegration of West Indian cricket: obsession with money and impatience. From its inception, Twenty/20 cricket has fuelled the material ambitions of West Indian players. As pointed out by Michael Holding and many others, with the vast amounts of money swilling around in the Indian Player League which promising West Indian youth will set his eyes on what will no doubt be considered dour and drab test cricket when there’s a fortune to be made in quick time in one season with the Deccan Chargers or the Delhi Daredevils?
And while he is at it, whether at the IPL or the recently concluded Twenty/20 series with South Africa, our potential stars are plotting the execution of the most hideous shots ever to be played down the ground or lifted over boundary line. Technique, timing, temperament and patience are now irritants on the frenetic field of Twenty/20 and their absence in the longest version of the game is one of the enduring failures of recent West Indian cricket.
Twenty/20 is apparently here to stay. However, in the case of West Indian cricket it has to be carefully administered so as not to worsen the already grave state of our Test and one-day cricket. No West Indian player should be entertained on a Twenty/20 team without graduating through the ranks of demanding Test and one-day cricket. There should be no automaticity to the T20 team for the Keiron Pollards solely on their ability to hoick deliveries for six or bowl the 19th over for just 10 runs. T20 should be used tactically and strategically to encourage and reward the players who bring glory to West Indian Test and one-day cricket. From here on in the places on T20 should be reserved for the regular players in Test and one-day who can adapt their games to the frenzied twenty- over version and who wish to do so. Their reward would then be the opportunity to capitalize on more lucrative T20 offerings. This would also reduce the opportunities for upstarts who can’t pace themselves in a 50-over match and who go on exhibition solely for the purpose of capturing the predatory attention of the IPL.
Let those Test-playing countries which can afford specialist T20 teams and which may gain a competitive edge over other teams have their advantage. It is something that the West Indies cannot afford at the moment and shouldn’t be afforded. Five losses to South Africa in a row at home? Does that sound as if there is room to play with?
