An excuse seeks to justify a violation or omission in relation to a matter. If one does not behave fairly, honestly or with a certain element of discipline, then one’s behavior is not simply cricket.
Over the decades, excuses have been made regarding the performance of the West Indies cricket team, irrespective of the format of the game, be it Test, One Day, Regional or more recently Twenty20 or T20 and the Caribbean Premier League, CPL. No doubt, cricket means financial resources, but where is the pride of performance?
There have been so many coaches of various aspects of the game, physios and managers that it is fascinating to see the rather pathetic display of the West Indies team, which stands out more for inconsistency than for victory.
Cricket is one of the things that unites West Indians, especially within the Caribbean, but this observation has clearly escaped the West Indies Cricket Board, which seems unable to avoid the brush of nepotism. A few years ago, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board wanted to break away and form its own international team.
Why are there managers who seem incapable of managing the various aspects of the game, be it batting, fielding, catching or bowling? Although inconsistent, players have the ability to play much better than they have for decades.
It is very commendable to see young players trying to do better, but indiscipline seems common. Why can’t greater indiscipline be forced upon the players? After three occasions, a maximum, a player who does not perform must leave the team until his performance rises to the required level.
Taking a page from English football, problem players, regardless of their ability, are benched until their performances meet the required criteria. Not in West Indies cricket, where clearly unfit and underperforming players are given chance after chance, the refrain is, “he/she is going through a rough patch”.
There are many avenues for these struggling players to raise their performances to the standard required by the format of the game, without leaving them in the team to find form. There are plenty of players waiting in the field to be picked, but holding on to under-performing players is hindering their inclusion.
The current West Indies Twenty20 and One-Day International captain is not performing as a player or captain, so either he is not listening or he is not being given the right advice. One expects that he wants to learn, so it may happen that he is not advised properly. Offering lame excuses for consistently losing a series is definitely not cricket. It is beyond curious to have a team whose strength seems to be losing. They seem unable to win games against teams that have recently emerged. You just have to see the discipline that exists in these teams.
The West Indies have enough players in the various Caribbean islands to ensure that underperforming players are left out of the team until their performances improve.
Furthermore, the arrogant and self-serving reasoning that seems to exist regarding players having different views from the West Indies cricket board needs to stop. Is nepotism and sub-par selection of players forced on board cricket because of that particular country’s financial contribution to the board’s coffers?
The West Indies cricket board must decide what is most important to them and to the islands and people of the Caribbean. Is it staying in power, reaping the benefits of being a director, manager, coach or understanding the immense value of the cricket team in representing the Caribbean as an entity that supersedes the narrow political interests prophetically articulated by the late Dr Eric E Williams when he said “1 in 10 leaves nothing”.
Harjoon Heeralal
Karapichaima
