We versus we

Even eternal optimists of West Indies Cricket would now have to concede that the latest saga to hit the regional sport, must be likened to a near death blow.{{more}}

No one though, would have envisaged that a team would have aborted a tour over issues of payment and contractual differences.

But what brewed in India and eventually spilled over a week ago, epitomizes the divide of our Caribbean people.

The outcomes show as a people we are as divided as the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which put the lines of demarcation in place for that individual identity.

As David Rudder penned some years ago, “This is not just Cricket, this thing goes beyond the boundary,” and truly now has proven to be prophetic.

Off the field, it reasons that there is little space for compromise, poise and statesmanship, amidst having grouses against one another.

Therefore, the fifteen players who took the collective decision to return to the Caribbean, never spared a thought for the millions who woke up from their beds at 4:30 a.m. in the three One-Day Internationals to see them perform or not do so.

With all their concerns and justifications over remuneration, they did not for one moment take into consideration the many youngsters, who are looking at them as positive influences, role models and persons worth of sporting emulation.

Equally, the West Indies Cricket Board, despite change in personnel, conducts its business in similar fashion, hence, the regular occurrences of fall-outs with the players is now the norm.

They too, are culpable in the present situation and must also shoulder a large chunk of the responsibility and blame for the current stand-off, which stinks up the entire cricket fraternity and the sporting world.

The players jetted off to India in good faith, even though they had not received their contracts. And when they did, they refused to sign, which certainly was their right, given that they were aggrieved.

Any professional who sees a reduction in his/her salary would immediately have raised eyebrow experiences.

Jog back to 1998 to the tour of South Africa and to 2009, when Bangladesh visited.

Cases of déjà vu, except this time around, much more drastic measures were taken by the players.

But again, we are taking part of David Rudder’s song “Rally round the West Indies” and making it into reality.

“In these tiny theatres of conflict and confusion, better known as the isles of the West Indies,” as he wrote, aptly fits this chapter of the never ending drama series of West Indies cricket.

So, instead of trying to move ourselves from the patented number eight spots in both tests and One Day, we are more consumed with engaging in battles with ourselves, now making it WE versus WE , rather than the We versus Them promo used in recent times whenever the West Indies is hosting a teams in the region.

We are more comforted that our players, whilst making a mint in the artificial strand of the sport – Twenty/20, are merely cattle stock for the various leagues strewn across the globe.

The ramifications of the decisions of the players to abort the Indian tour are unveiling in bits.

The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has swiftly scrapped the tour to the Caribbean next February. As part of a bilateral agreement between the two boards, India was expected to play five series against West Indies in the next eight years, including four visits to the Caribbean.

Immediately, the West Indies Cricket Board, the players and the entire region, stand to lose.

Going through the window are direct income to the WICB from television rights; the players would be deprived of their anticipated earnings, the many sectors of the hospitality industry where the matches were set to be played have had their hopes of a financial lift dished.

More so, it says to all that the West Indies and its Cricket operations are becoming more to keep away from, than to be in company with.

Additionally, the BBCI is proceeding to take legal action against the WICB for loss of revenue for the aborted tour.

The WICB now has to go and court and bow to the BCCI, to control the damage, despite the known cordial relationship between the two boards.

No task force installed to look into what prompted the team to return from India prematurely can solve the issues which are plaguing West Indies cricket.

The sport is inherently problematic from the structure of the WICB, the sport itself and other factors.

What came to the fore in India recently, shows that West Indies cricket is heading in the direction of almost no return, as it is bound with grudges, spite and a tit for tat approach.