Dear Editor,
Globally, sports attract humongous amounts of attention. Either in Calcutta, India or Karachi in Pakistan. The attention becomes infectious when there is consistent success either individually or collectively. When this is juxtaposed with the desire to persevere through persistent practice the results are starling to note. I can think of the dominance of Australia and South Africa on the cricket field, or Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Roger Federer on the tennis court. Hours after hours of determined and compulsive practice are the only answer. Their success can also be attributed to having first class training facilities, the right combination of trainers/coaches and effective mechanisms that will continuously provide viable competition from their counterparts. It therefore means that the individual or team must maintain the highest level of performance to continue competing rather than participating, and that the self-respect must be there to earn retention instead of having to face relegation.
I recently learnt about the retirement of South African batsman Álvaro Peterson from Test cricket. Despite his team’s overwhelming success against the West Indies, he knew the time was right to quit. The evidence of a subdued series by his standards pointed to the fact that he should not be retained in a highly competitive team. When will some of our players know when to quit? This is not a question for the durable and admirable Shivnarine Chanderpaul, but I presume he will be contemplating a definitive moment of exit in a more formal manner than many of the past West Indian greats who ended their careers ignominiously.
The images of a battering, and the pain and agony of predictable defeat endured by the West Indies team have become almost commonplace, despite the optimism of the Clive Lloyd-led selection panel. The ill-tempered mannerisms, reckless shot-making, erratic running, directionless bowling and unimaginative captaincy continue to be features of the team’s play. Simply put, the writing must be on the wall for a value for money approach. The West Indian players are among the highest paid professionals, yet the individual and team ratings are among the lowest. It is time that a quota system is implemented whereby players are paid based on performance.
I suppose this may create another strike, but would it matter? The players are now being paid to train, yet the gains have been too infrequent to be considered acceptable. The West Indian players must be held accountable and match pay with play.
Yours faithfully,
Elroy Stephney