The decision by the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) to withdraw support for Joel Garner and back countryman Dave Cameron confirms the crisis West Indies cricket finds itself. Cameron has presided over the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) at a time when a West Indies team had to abandon a recent tour of India speaks volumes. The end result of the failed tour to India is that the WICB has been in grovel mode to resolve the issue with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) who is understandably upset at an out of pocket position of USD42 million.
It must be evident to even the most ardent West Indian cricket supporter that the leadership of West Indies cricket over the last 20 years has failed. The inability of the WICB structure to metamorphosize to ensure it remains relevant by producing competitive teams has been a sorry tale. The horse trading that occurs to select Board members is not based on ability but rather who are better at playing the politics of West Indies cricket to derive a result shaped by narrow and parochial interest.
The question the solution oriented will ask is how do we change it. The management of West Indies in its current form makes it difficult for public opinion to be a difference-maker. The WICB is comprised of the little exclusive fiefdoms of the individual territories Leewards and Windwards included.
There is resistance against the politicians getting involved although there is a sub Caricom committee responsible for cricket matters. Logic says if the West Indies governments are expected to bail the WICB financially – we can cite the CWC2007 as an example – then it must be allowed to participate in the process of managing cricket. The danger in selecting this approach is that regional governments have been unable to show by performance of managing the affairs of state this would lead to a good result.
Around and around the mulberry bush we go and the time approaches when Bangladesh, Ireland, ZIMBAWEE will ease pass West Indies in the ICC rankings. What have we seen since the aborted India tour fiasco? The incumbent WICB president Dave Cameron is the front runner in the next WICB presidential election and Wavell Hinds retained as head of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA). What has changed is the removal of a few players considered ‘rebels’. There is a moral to the saga playing out which we have witnessed all too frequently in West Indies cricket.
West Indian supporters who want change are left to wish the unthinkable – allow the West Indies team to be relegated to playing with the ICC group. Such shame maybe the only way the region is jolted into a position that we have to change or die.
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