Contrary to the report by Tony Cozier, on Wednesday, of an “official forecast that the storm clouds hanging over West Indies cricket are beginning to lift,” based on a joint statement issued by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and representatives of the West Indies team, following Sunday’s emergency meeting in Jamaica, we are not that sanguine about the prospects of clear skies ahead.
We do not doubt that the meeting was, as stated, “cordial, positive and fruitful,” but the promise of further discussions “in an effort to find a way forward” can only be regarded, in light of all that has gone before and “the rumblings in the background,” as Mr Cozier put it, as a small step in the right direction. For details are typically scarce or, rather, non-existent, as to what action is to be taken to clean up the mess caused by the abandonment of the tour of India by the West Indies team.
Even as the truth of this sorry story is still being pieced together and as the finger-pointing and blame game have started in distressingly characteristic Caribbean style, at least one player has broken ranks with the team and expressed his disagreement with the collective position taken in India. No one, however – not WICB president Dave Cameron, not WIPA head Wavell Hinds, not West Indies one-day captain Dwayne Bravo – has accepted any responsibility for the collapse of the tour and for bringing West Indies cricket into disrepute.
Of course, since this is the Caribbean, which has been experiencing a crisis of governance for at least the past 10 years and where questionable leadership, erosion of the rule of law, lack of transparency and accountability, and disregard for public opinion have generally become the norm, not one of the three gentlemen has seen fit to do the honourable thing and fall on his sword, or bat, as the case may be.
Depending on whom you believe and your own value system, blame for what transpired in India may be apportioned in different quantities. But all three men and all three entities – the WICB, WIPA and the West Indies team – bear the collective responsibility for precipitating the crisis in India and failing to avert it before ignominy and hurt were heaped upon the region.
To be fair to Mr Bravo, he should not be the only one castigated for his role in the drama. After all, both Test captain Denesh Ramdin and T20 skipper Darren Sammy – the latter ever hailed as a faithful servant of West Indies cricket to make up for his various shortcomings as a tactician and player – were, according to Mr Bravo, supportive of the decision to abort the tour, thereby spitting in the face of the WICB, the Indian Board and the cricketing public in India and the Caribbean.
Sadly, the whole sordid affair perhaps tells us more about ourselves as a region and a people than we might wish to acknowledge. Are the players not role models for our youth, our representatives and our sporting ambassadors? Have their actions and those of the WICB and WIPA not reflected poorly on our ability to manage our affairs and on our Caribbean culture? We hesitate to use the term “Caribbean civilisation” so favoured by the likes of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines who, incidentally, has written to Mr Cameron proposing CARICOM mediation.
There was evidently a failure of management, communication and diplomacy among all three parties, with brinkmanship trumping reason and intelligence. And regardless of how justified the grievances of the players, their final decision cannot be seen as other than a gross miscalculation on their part.
But was it a miscalculation on the part of their unseen advisers? Is it too farfetched to wonder whether the whole crisis is part of a deliberate move to bring the WICB finally to its knees and force the restructuring for which so many have been clamouring for so long?
There is clearly a need for a negotiated solution. But will diplomacy without any bloodletting really make a difference? Last Friday, we suggested that heads must roll. Let us be more direct. The WICB has no respect for the players, the players have lost confidence in WIPA, WIPA has no credibility and the public are completely fed up with them all. As a first step, Mr Cameron and Mr. Hinds should either voluntarily resign or be forced to resign. Mr Bravo should consider his position too, unless he is willing to tell the whole truth and reveal whether he is ringleader or puppet. A new, sustainable fair and equitable Collective Bargaining Agreement should then be quickly negotiated. And a commitment should be extracted from the WICB to put its house in order to make it better managed, accountable and transparent. Only then will some of the shame be expiated and will West Indies cricket begin to be viewed again with respect and affection on the international stage.
