Region must optimise limited resources to help cricket rise again – CWI President

During the years when the West Indies was dominating cricket, countries like England, Australia and India were investing heavily in infrastructure and their systems.

This, according to President of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Dr Kishore Shallow, is one of the reasons why these countries are now dominating cricket ahead of the West Indies.

“We were too busy celebrating and didn’t take time to realize that just raw talent isn’t sustainable…” Shallow told listeners of Hot 97.1 FM on their AM Mayhem morning show last Wednesday.

During the show, Shallow spoke candidly about the state of West Indies Cricket in which he highlighted several issues.

He said that in relation to England, those responsible for cricket made sure that players from the Caribbean played in that country and they learnt from them.

“So, our players, especially in the 80s, played a major role in developing their (England) cricket and their players. And you would see it now in these current players, especially the English players, you would see a bit of West Indian in them, very aggressive cricketers, and this is because they have modelled their cricket off our players,” Shallow commented.

He said the bigger countries put systems and infrastructure around the hiring of Caribbean cricketers and when it comes to systems and infrastructure, the Caribbean cannot compete.

“There is no facility in the region, probably save and except Kensington Oval, that can compare to some of these international venues in England and Australia.”

He said that if one were to compare a Buccament Playing Field or a playing field at Stubbs to even a lowly venue in England, it’s like chalk and cheese, as some of these communities in England have facilities that don’t exist anywhere in the Caribbean.

The CWI President, however, noted that this region can eventually begin to once again compete at the highest level because it still has natural talent, however, it must optimise its limited resources.

“In the last year, ever since the introduction of Darren Sammy as Head Coach of the West Indies T20 team, we have moved from very low rank to number two- number three in the world in T20- so we are up there again…” said Shallow, who added that there is still much to be done.

“We need infrastructure, we need government to invest in infrastructure,” Shallow lamented, while noting that the recent investment in infrastructure for the World Cup is appreciated.

He said it is evident that the love and passion for West Indies cricket is not like in the days of the ‘Guinness Power Jam posse’, the reason being that teams have been underperforming over the years.

“…people don’t like to associate with failure; that is a reality, and if you are not performing well on the field and you’re taking people on an emotional roller coaster then naturally you are going to lose fans.”

He said the crowds may not dislike or hate cricket, but patrons are looking for more than matches they know will end “with you being disappointed” when payment of their “hard-earned money” is involved.