?I often wonder what transpires in the minds of the Caribbean people when they are faced with the type of irresponsible decisions made by members of the cricketing fraternity. This now very familiar scenario, which is often created by either the WICB or the Wipa, has been having an adverse effect on the game in the region while making us the laughing stock of the game in the eyes of the cricket world.
It is simple and accurate to comment on the incompetence of the cricket authorities whose terms of reference may not be providing them with any hard and fast policies regarding players, or any of the other stakeholders.
It may be true to point fingers at the various cricket boards in the region, all of whom are represented on the WICB, but it is almost like the "who is guarding the guards" syndrome.
From a Trini perspective, I prefer to challenge our own cricket board to take issue with the shortcomings of both the board and Wipa in order to make them understand that it's not business as usual for them unless they get their act together. I have always been taught that professional organisations are guided by rules and regulations that are documented with the confines of a constitution. In this way, any developing problems can be handled through the information which is written into the constitution.
Without knowing what are all the obstacles of Wipa and/or WICB, one begins to wonder whether or not these two organisations ever take into consideration the deleterious effect this spontaneous form of decision-making will have on the previous glittering history of West Indian cricket heralded by the likes of names like Rolph Grant, Jeff Stollmeyer, Alan Rae, the famous W's and enhanced by people like Sir Gary Sobers, Rohan kanhai and through to Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Mike holding and our most recent superstar Brian Lara.
My question is: Who is brave enough to do the revolutionary transformation from the current fiasco into a competent, management-friendly institution which will demonstrate the beauty and artistry of yesteryear? We must look around at the possible personnel and question their reason for not coming forward. We can start with a trip to the famous Queen's park Oval and the names of the booth holders, supporters of the great game and investors for the long term.
Surely they would wish to protect their investment and market their presence, using cricket as the catalyst to prosperity. The public must also play a meaningful role, whereby the message of dissatisfaction should be reflected in their comments, and sometimes, even a reduction in their attendance.
We are all guilty if we ignore these present happenings. Cricket does not belong to either Wipa or WICB. It's the people of the Caribbean islands who are sad over a poor west Indian performance and even more embarrassed when our historical characteristics are tarnished by some unprofessional meandering from a few.
These people have not even taken into consideration the absolute disrespect shown to the Bangladesh team currently touring the region. They have little regard for the sponsors who spends an enormous amount of money to put food on the tables of the same players and administrators. What a catastrophic picture which has been created by people who don't seem to care.