I refer to the article by Pat Rousseau published in the WEEKEND NATION headlined Board Failing WI Players.
It begins with the following statement: “It has taken Sir Hilary Beckles 14 years to remember the contribution the great West Indian thinker, Michael Manley, made to his book The Development of West Indies Cricket published in 1998.
It continues on the second paragraph: “No credit or acknowledgement of the contribution was made in the book or at the time of publication but it is trotted out now, in support of current debate by Sir Hilary, to show how he and the great cricket intellectual shared his views.”
It has been a source of great frustration to me that too many people in public life who participate in media discourse do not relate to the relevant material on which their observations are made.
It makes for very inefficient conversation, wastage, and serves only to distract.
It is particularly striking in the case of Pat Rousseau, a distinguished West Indian lawyer, and former WICB president.
My two-volume 1998 book to which he refers carried a picture of the late Michael Manley on the dedication page, and adjacent to the image can be found the following words:
“For my friend and comrade Michael ‘Joshua’ Manley who stood firm and did the best for his time.”
The dedication was both a tribute and acknowledgement to a friend and mentor.
In addition to the dedication, and the conversations around his invitation to deliver the first Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture at Cave Hill, I allocated pages 180-185 of the book for the celebration of Michael’s work on West Indies cricket.
Michael had asked that I speak at the launch of his book in Trinidad. I happily reproduced my speech delivered then in my book. My book then begins with a dedication to Michael, engages his ideas and actions, and ends with a celebration of his book.
These statements by Pat are, therefore, untrue and distasteful. I can only deduce that Pat has not seen, browsed, or read the book.
Maybe he should now do so. In any event, he should withdraw the above comments that are so utterly wrong and misleading.
The other objectionable comments he made, I accept as fair game in the trenches.
