Dear Editor,
One may excuse politicians like Cameron for making decisions that advance what they perceive to be their interest in acquiring or retaining power.
But Clive Lloyd and Courtney Walsh are among the men who contributed most to making cricket such an important institution in the region.
These are men who played the game so well that they are not merely West Indian legends, but rather legends of the game. They understand not only what makes for successful teams, but how cricketers think and what motivates them.
They know from their own experience that talented and experienced West Indies cricketers are not mercenaries, as so many fans and administrators believe. They know that all West Indian cricketers want to play for the West Indies. They understand the economic complications involved in being a top class cricketer from a small market country. They understand what it would mean to West Indies cricket and to the game more generally, to have players like Badree, Bravo, Gayle, Rampaul, Russell, Sammy, Simmons and such men eligible to play, that is, being kept within the fraternity. They can see, for example, what the implications are for the West Indies to win the ongoing tri-series, and to perform well against India in the upcoming series. They know that such performances could even put pressure on the ICC to look for ways to revisit their decision to exclude West Indies from the next champion series.
Is it too much to ask them to use their influence as selectors to correct the mistake of excluding from participation internationally some of the best cricketers on the basis of a silly rule?
I think not.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
