It is quite understandable if the subject of West Indies cricket was farthest from the minds of Caribbean sports fans over the past weekend. With their team having capitulated by an innings inside of three days last Friday at Lord’s, in the opening Test match of the current three-game series, their time of mourning yet another (seemingly inevitable) loss would have been brief, as there were a slew of other events to occupy their attention.
Simply put, it was a dream weekend for sports junkies. There were the Wimbledon Finals – Women’s on Saturday, Men’s on Sunday – and three Doubles’ finals for the true tennis nuts. Soccer fans were permanently ensconced on the living room couch, feasting on the Conmebol Copa America, the oldest continuing continental tournament of its kind, with the third place playoff match on Saturday, and the delayed – due to unruly fans – Sunday night final. Between those two thrillers, won by Uruguay and Argentina, respectively, there was the final of the UEFA European Championship on Sunday afternoon to keep the satiation levels to the maximum.
As often happens at such occasions other news or developments which otherwise would garner attention are overlooked. Last Thursday, Brian Lara, the leading West Indies Test run scorer, was interviewed at Lord’s on the BBC World Service Stumped podcast. Extracts of the interview were available in the print media the following day, with the podcast available online from last Saturday. It was not a typical Lara innings, punctuated with fluid drives and pulls, but rather one filled with gentle nudges and delicate pushes, as he sought to be politically correct, thus avoiding ruffling any feathers on the subject of the state of West Indies cricket.
However, in the 20-odd minutes exchange with the programme’s host, Lara pointed to the lack of public enthusiasm for Test cricket in the Caribbean with the absence of crowds as compared to the lines he witnessed at 7:30 am on the first day of the Lord’s Test. Lara’s artfully presented observations – that we are already painfully aware of – woven into a perfect summation of our woes.
“If you put 100 million, 200 million dollars into the West Indies’ bank account, is it going to change the way we play the game? I’m not sure,” Lara stated, whilst observing, “We are not harnessing the talent that we have.
“Obviously, cricket has been diluted by the number of different sports and different opportunities for kids, but I still believe that corporate West Indies have got to get involved.
“The West Indies Cricket Board hasn’t done the right job in attracting these sponsors to ensure that at least grassroots, but also the academy, all the different things, the facilities, are up to standard. I think these things are very, very important,” Lara said. He also noted the decline in the role of parents in nurturing and maintaining an interest in the game.
When questioned about the current inequitable distribution of wealth in the game, Lara responded by alluding to Sir Wes Hall referring to the large sums of money generated for the West Indies by the team’s frequent visits to Australia in the 1970s and 1980s, an arrangement which was upended by an ICC ruling in the late 1990s, where each board had to pay the same amount to each other. A decision which Lara described as “a kick in the gut” which meant that “we were going to struggle from that day on.” Whilst agreeing that the distribution should be revisited, Lara diplomatically suggested that the West Indies should not be treated any differently from other cricketing nations.
Lara’s thoughts follow a well trodden path. Three months ago, 25th – 26th April, Caricom hosted a regional cricket conference in Trinidad and Tobago, under the theme, “Reinvigorating West Indies”. After two days of talks – there was plenty of it – and presentations, Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and chair of the Caricom subcommittee on cricket, announced at a media briefing that a report will be compiled on the future growth of West Indies Cricket when the Caribbean Community Heads meet in July in Grenada.
According to a press release from Caricom, “This report will provide a comprehensive and reliable assessment of the current state and future prospects of West Indies Cricket.” It also stated that, “ the Prime Minister said that Caricom leaders have been feeling this pressure of wanting to do something about this super delayed initiative, and we [have] come to the conclusion that we need to confront the elephant in the room.”
The elephant, of course, being Cricket West Indies (CWI), the organisation responsible for overseeing cricket in the Caribbean, which has bluntly refused to submit to dissolution to enable the creation of a new professional body to administer the game. Lara had subtly circumvented the subject in his interview, but hinted at its inability to attract corporate sponsorship. The 47th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community will be held in Grenada from 28 – 30 July. What can we expect? Caricom will bowl a few overs with lots of bouncers, and CWI’s wicket will remain intact. The talking will continue and the elephant will remain in the room.
