I have no time and or disposition for recrimination over the performance of the West Indies in the T20 World Cup. Those of us, myself included, who had hoped for continuing dominance in this international tournament did so on the basis of our love for and attachment to the West Indian ideal in cricket; we cannot help ourselves. Now nothing is fundamentally wrong with such national pride and aspiration “in a world that don’t need islands no more,” Rudder captures well the consciousness we have to grasp and internalize.
My concentration in the articles of this series will be on a few of the things, which, in my view, we have to conceive of and implement if W.I. cricket in all formats is to avoid complete disintegration, perhaps irretrievably so.
T20 Recognition
First on my list is for supporters and officials to recognize and say thanks to the generation of West Indians who all but invented the approach to the T20 game. It is vitally important that we be conscious of and make the claim to the world that the innovation, energy, and the flair brought to T20 in the bowling, batting, and fielding of Gayle, Bravo, Narine, Pollard, Samuels, Braithwaite and with Sammy in the generalship role were West Indian.
We must lay claim to our contributions to answer those anti-West Indian cynics who say to the world that we are a bunch of brainless but physically gifted cricketers.
We previously allowed our revival of Test cricket with Australia, the intervention of Worrell, the Sobers era, and the innovation and devastation carried out by the Lloyd/Richards eras in Test cricket and the ODI format to go by without claiming the West Indian significance of it all. We missed out on the commercial benefits and historical pride to be gained because of our lack of discernment.
Ingratitude to past players
One other reminder on these matters is our tradition of ingratitude to our heroes when they have come to the end of their careers. We all but hounded the greatest of them all (Garfield Sobers) out of the game. Similar treatment was accorded to Haynes, Richardson, Lara, Chanderpaul, and others when their time came.
Perhaps there is a connection between our present extended period in the wilderness and our lack of gratitude; maybe there is a psycho-social otherworld (Biblical) connection between the two: you receive what you have given.
Structural Deficiencies
I have frequently emphasized in this column over a couple of decades, the very obvious but the least attended to aspect of our continuing failures and the need to focus on the big picture. The problems of West Indies cricket are structural, meaning they are within the framework of how we organize, administer, coach and nurture our young cricketers from primary school – inclusive of the dropout boys and girls on the streets seeking to make their way in the world – to the Test cricket level.
We have unfortunately focused on who makes the side, who is captain, who is the coach, the selectors, the board and often from which territory the players have come.
The evidence of the deficiencies of the players of the last couple of decades has been very apparent, yet we have failed to blend the natural talents of team members with a systematic and scientific approach to nurture great international players and teams.
Instead of recognizing what was left behind (we are still to understand and analyse the Worrell-Lloyd-Richards strategies and their application) as part of our heritage, at the first sign of failure, we chase after the solutions of other cricketing nations and individuals; we hire third-grade coaches and advisers from other cricketing cultures.
There have been a few instances when cricket academies have been established in different parts of the region. As far as I am aware though, no well-established, stable and continuing institution has survived in a permanent form to prepare our players in their teens to enter into the different forms of representative cricket.
This is not new science and practice; it simply has not been done in the region in a manner to make the results sustainable.
Hold Regional Boards To Account
The national boards in the region must take on the challenge to establish academies for boys and girls coming into the game at the formal level. That is where the technical training and induction into the West Indian history in the game, the psychological and competitive knowledge, and the social meaning of the game must be shared with our young players.
Then there must be established for our representative players the West Indian Academy where the focus will be on the mental elements of the game, strategy development, and the building of the human capacity.
If this sounds as if I am advocating a make-over and a fresh start to West Indian cricket then you have got my intention. And once again I remind that revival requires a return to basics and the making use of the West Indian experience in cricket; it’s an approach we should have adopted 20 years ago.
Short-term measures and fudging the experiences of other countries have not and will not work.
To be continued.
