Dear Editor,
Nine years ago, I penned a letter expressing my frustration and feeling of hopelessness about West Indies cricket. Hunte was then the President and Hilaire was the CEO, both St Lucians, and I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that West Indies cricket was slipping further into the doldrums and would be a regional disgrace.
I had issued a call in (2010) for the entire West Indies board to resign en bloc and be replaced with past cricketers who have the know-how and the technical expertise to implement a proper cricket structure to develop West Indies cricket.
Seven years after my call, a CARICOM committee recommended that the West Indies Board be disbanded and a new organization be established to administrate West Indies cricket, which was promptly rejected and resisted by the Board. The Antiguan Prime Minister came out in support of the board and his country has benefited from numerous matches being played at their new stadium sometimes to 200 spectators.
Fast forward to the present. A few years ago, a certain Jamaican national was elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board and after a challenge from Joel Garner, where he was unsuccessful, Barbados was rewarded with all three captains, a Bajan chairman of selectors (Courtney Browne), eight Bajan players as almost permanent fixtures in the team, Garner in a management position, Roland Holder another Bajan in a senior administrative position, Reifer in a coaching position and the West Indies Cricket Board renamed Cricket West Indies.
Essentially, what these people have done is to covet the brand West Indies Cricket and destroy whatever brand equity it had and reduced West Indies cricket to the laughing stock of the cricketing world. They have over the years drawn battle lines with West Indian cricketers who are in demand across the world and minimize the chances for them to represent West Indies. They were the only Board that could not find common ground with their players over franchise cricket and are stuck in a neo-colonial posture which portrays them as ‘Massa’ in the 21st Century when they cannot even handle routine administrative matters such as appointing a cricket coach.
In 2019, West Indies is the only cricketing nation that does not have a cricket academy, Afghanistan has two and Mumbai alone has more than 10, yet these administrators declared that by 2017 a better-quality product will take the field in maroon representing West Indies. I will not comment since we have all seen the product in Bangladesh and India in December 2018.
Never before has spite, insularity and “bad mindedness” been so evident in West Indies cricket as now and the apparent assumption that a Caribbean League (mediocre to say the least) would automatically result in West Indies cricket rising to the top, accentuates the level of folly that is unprecedented. Reifer confessed a few days ago that West Indies cricket is oceans apart relative to international cricket. That he had to go to India and Bangladesh to be convinced of that explains the sorry state of West Indies cricket. It is a hopeless situation with no end in sight unless CWI is disbanded which will not happen. It therefore condemns West Indians to continue to be the mocking stock of cricket to the world indefinitely.
Guyana is a South American country that is linked to the West Indies by language and a colonial past. I have never been a supporter of CARICOM and has always seen Guyana’s future in forging relations with its South American neighbours. We seem to be heading there, even though gradually but surely and it is time that we seriously reconsider remaining a part of West Indies cricket.
Guyana have been the regional champions for four consecutive years, we recently beat the Barbados team with eight West Indies players including the West Indies captain, yet we are only good enough to have one player in the West Indies team facing England in the current test series. The West Indies Board established a policy of selecting players based on performance in the regional tournament. It was that same policy that caused Devon Smith to be selected in 2018 for the eighth time after seven previous failures forcing Hetmyer to sit out two test matches. Yet, Permaul and Bramble continue to be excluded despite excellent performances and have to give way to a bunch of below average cricketers from Barbados (again) and Jamaica.
How long more must Guyana cricketers continue to endure this disrespect by ‘Bajan failures’ who have assumed themselves to be Lords of cricket? It is scandalous that a Guyanese member of the selection panel witnessed Keemo Paul taking ten wickets in a match which Guyana won and Bramble scoring a brilliant century under pressure which was his second consecutive one following the one in Barbados against the mighty Barbados West Indies test team, and still neither of them was selected by the panel of which he is a member.
It is time that Guyana withdraw from West Indies and go it on its own. CWI in its present form cannot revive West Indies cricket. They have been rebuilding for almost 30 years and West Indies cricket is worse than it was when they started to rebuild. They are hopeless and useless.
Immediately Guyana should do the following:
1) Develop the cricket grounds in Skeldon, Corentyne and Affiance Essequibo
Coast to international standards. They have the space and drainage, all that is
needed is a few developments in stands, practice pitches, security and
accommodation.
2) Simultaneously, reorganize cricket administration in Guyana to realise a
democratic process of electing cricket administrators at the regional boards
and the umbrella Guyana Cricket Board.
3) The Ministry of Education, through a Government Sports Policy, should
employ the vast array of qualified cricket coaches to conduct coaching in
schools across Guyana. They along with Guyanese cricket legends will develop
a policy paper which will be used to inform the overarching strategy to move
Guyana to Test status in five years.
4) Their coaching will also be available at the club level to provide continuity
from school to the national team.
5) The present crop of Guyanese national cricketers will be integrated into the
system and will be the nucleus for a Guyana team to enter ICC competitions
in T20 and ODI’s in the short term.
6) In collaborating with the University of Guyana, establish a cricket Academy
which will be used to round our players and complete the preparation for
international cricket.
7) The Government must adopt a sport policy in collaboration with corporate
Guyana to provide sponsorship etc. It can positively impact the tourism
industry as well as other aspects of Guyana’s economy.
A properly executed approach will see Guyana beating a CWI team within two years because CWI administrators will not give up their failed policies and will continue to build twenty years from now and still be at the bottom. They are hopeless.
Guyanese are tired of this level of mediocrity that characterizes West Indies cricket of which Guyana is part of. There will be those who will want to hold on to the past, and I respect that, but the future is before us and we need to be bold and committed to determine our own destiny.
Guyana has the talent to be competitive, all we need is the structure and will to excel.
Can we do it?
Yes we can!
All we need is the testicular fortitude.
Yours faithfully,
Eric Whaul
