By Tony Deyal
When in my PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) days, I was holding a training session on Dengue in the Spanish city, I learned from one of the latecomers that in Jamaica, Time is a foreign magazine.
In Barbados, home of my two youngest children, and Guyana, home of my wife, Banks is an alcoholic drink. Also in Guyana, “Unity” is a village. When the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) hired me as corporate secretary and communications manager, the Sun was a newspaper, not only in Antigua where I worked, but also in St Kitts and Nevis. It only happened when Stanford and his empire ended up in total darkness. But none of them can rival Trinidad and Tobago in the duality and even the plurality of its English linguistics.
Trinidad and Tobago is the only country where “Elita” is a shirt brand and “Republic” is a bank. “Morality” is a game played with a ball by children, but it is not “cricket”, which is an insect. In the Trinidad and Tobago “way of life” (which, by the way, is a car dealership), the “priority” is a bus route; “Chutney” is not a condiment but something you dance with; “lime” is an opportunity-together or telecommunications provider; “Unity” is a village in the south of Trinidad; “Reforma” is a village; “Police and thief” was a child’s game that disappeared when both sides became indistinguishable; and “Maracas” is a beach and not a noise. Even more interesting is that if Trinidad and Tobago ever decided to dedicate an entire twenty-four hour period to celebrating its national instrument, it would be named after a former prime minister – “Panday”.
That is why, when the West Indies cricket team failed to make it to the final twelve for the T20 World Cup and the coach resigned, many of us were very upset because our worst expectations had been realised. I think that unlike us, those in charge thought that changing the name of the organization from West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to Cricket West Indies (CWI) would make the dramatic, “bolt” out of the blue change it would instantly create. success from years of constant failure. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking was crazier than Usain.
From the moment Julien Hunte entered and was followed by Dave Cameron, every time CWI won a random game we heard about the light in the dark, which inevitably and very quickly turned out to be from a magnetically flown jacket that traveled at 600 miles an hour to lick them and take them out.
It is sad that from “Cricket, Lovely Cricket” at Lords in 1950 we have come to the 1980 calypso by Winston “Joker” Des Visgnes, which is still unanswered in 2022, not just for our cricket but for our Caribbean, “Where shall we go from here?” Is it that putting cricket and our future in the “hands of unscrupulous men” has blocked our progress and raised prices beyond our means?
I was delighted when Richard “Ricky” Skerrit decided to put his “hat” in the ring. Knowing he wasn’t going to come out “skull-covered” like Hunte or “skull-covered” like Cameron, I was happy to support his campaign. I knew that he had once quit as Cricket Team Manager when after the West Indies lost a match in Jamaica many of the players went and celebrated in the stands. I admired his resignation on the grounds that despite his best efforts, he was “unable to inculcate in the whole team the fullest understanding of their obligations on and off the field to the people of the West Indies”.
Unfortunately, this has not changed. It was clear from the start that Skerritt was not brave enough to follow through on the financial forensic audit he had promised, or to deal with the many structural problems that make it impossible for any improvement to happen.
My son Zubin, a cricketer since he was five, identified some of what he believes are vital preventatives. They include political problems within islands and between territories; corruption which reduces the money that should go to cricket; poor training, so kicking technique (in particular) suffers and continues at the highest levels of the game; poor facilities, especially low-quality fields; and the number of cricket opportunities, or “quantity”, is exacerbated by the high cost of inter-island travel. Speaking of money, right after the 2007 World Cup, the president, Ken Gordon, distributed $16 million between the six territorial associations. It is widely believed that two of those associations never reported this to their boards or entered it on their books. This is why the forensic audit will never happen.
Eventually, all recent “Presidents” except Ken Gordon gave up their job functions and clung to “the office” hook, hook, tooth, and nail because that’s where the fame, fortune, and travel opportunities lie. . ripe for the taking. I kind of feel sorry for Skerrit. His sidekick, Dr Kishore Swallow, seems to have bitten off a lot more than he can chew – or Swallow – and seems to have not only vanished into thin air, but fallen on thin ears, where the people he originally requests for advice were ignored. the day after he won. I understand that Skerrit is not running for a second term and that Swallow will be. When that happens, I will make my last will and testament that I want to be buried at sea and, as a former corporate secretary of the WICB, I will ask all its board members, including Swallow, if he is still near, to carry my coffin. .
The most unknown or “hidden” fact is that we the people of the Caribbean, even the CARICOM mess we have in common, have no say in what happens to West Indies Cricket. The ownership, the first and last word, the money, be it any, penny or lot, all belong and go to the six cricket boards that own our cricket.
That’s why when I heard some people who should know better, including some managers and cricket board members, and many of the fans, blaming the coach for the team’s failure to make the final twelve in T20s, I saw it. as comic relief. “Simmons” may be a bed or a mattress in Trinidad and the wider world, but this Simmons, the coach, is a fighter and not someone to jump around and play childish games. An ESPN headline on October 24, 2022 announced: “Simmons resigns as West Indies coach after ‘elusive’ World Cup exit”. This is why I want my people to know exactly what “uncatchable” means as they don’t seem to understand or even a whiff of what it means to us West Indies Cricket.
As Simmons found out, dealing with the Cricket Board or the players is not a bed of roses. In fact, we don’t have to worry about the Cricket Board alone. We need to know if the reason why players keep missing the boat, or the plane, is a matter of no balls.
*Tony Deyal was last seen saying that due to the many countries in the region and the deliberately limited few who “pick” the team, the biggest opponents the players face are the coaches and selectors.
