Taking it with a pinch of salt

The recent proposed kiss and make up truce between the two warring factions of West Indies Cricket Board – now Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the globe-trotting players who ply their trade in the various lucrative Twenty/20 tournaments is merely farcical.

This column has come to that conclusion, as it appears that the “temporary amnesty”, is an exercise in cosmetology, at least at this juncture.

Reason being, is that the haste to ease on the selection policy of those players who do not avail themselves for their territories in the regional Super-50 tournament, is simply for the West Indies to get into the next World Cup.

Many may reason that the policy should not have been enforced, granted that our players earn their living mainly from the 20/20 tournaments, and invariably clash with the regional exercise.

Therefore, with the amnesty reached, it paves the way for the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Keiron Pollard, Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine to return for the ODI series versus England next month in England.

In a race against time, to seek qualification, some of these “stars” could find themselves on the team.

But even for the best of optimists, their inclusion does not translate into excellent performance, but realistically a better serving than the existing team, which is composed of a bunch of inexperienced players.  

The said stars were around for many years, as the fortunes of West Indies Cricket have not changed for the better, thus adding to the dilemma.

At present, the once mighty West Indies is 8th on the ICC test rankings, 9th on the ODI list and 4th in the Twenty/20 table.  

Desperation looms large in all quarters for cricket in the Caribbean, as fans have either become fed up, indifferent or have abandoned their support all together.

Regional governments too are hounding the administrators for their handling of the sport, exacerbated by the poor results of the team over the past two decades.

Joining in the fray are other cricketing nations, which are forceful to see the likes of West Indies relegated to the second tier of the pecking order.

It is being argued that should the West Indies fail to make it to the 2019 World Cup, as it was the case of this year’s Champions Trophy, a possibility exists that the US$142 million allocated to the top eight nations, the regional board – Cricket West Indies can miss out.

The West Indies has lost the last six test series, with their last triumph being in 2014 over Bangladesh.

But whilst many would want to give both sides the benefit of the doubt that they are genuine, history suggests otherwise.

Yes, the board has erred in many respects, at times being perfect at unprofessionalism, but equally the star players have heaped scorn and disdain on the then WICB.

A case in point is the dragged on “BIG IDIOT” twitter posting made by Darren Bravo last November.

That saga mirrored child’s play instead of two grown professionals, thus making West Indies cricket a pappy show and a laughing stock in the world of sports.

This type of vendetta has characterised West Indies cricket for some time now.

One would readily remember the drawn-out stand-off after the 2011 Cricket World Cup, when the West Indies team played poorly.

The then coach Otis Gibson vented his feelings over the under-performing senior players.  Chris Gayle reacted publicly to Gibson’s comments and an apology was demanded from Gayle.

As a consequence, Gayle was dropped and it took the intervention of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, to mediate for his reinstatement.

On the other side of the fence, coach Phil Simmons was sacked, as the West Indies Cricket Board cited “identified differences in culture and strategic approach”.

Simmons is on record for expressing his displeasure in “interference” in team selection.  

So, with the players’ amnesty reached, nothing can be certain in West Indies Cricket, unless all stakeholders flush themselves of the toxins and see cricket as a priceless commodity to the peoples of the Caribbean, the world over.