THE WEST INDIES have been without a “real” cricket team for 20 years.
University of the West Indies (UWI) vice chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles made this claim at the launch of his new literary work Cricket Without A Cause: Fall And Rise Of The Mighty West Indian Cricketers at Cricket Legends Barbados on Monday night.
“The West Indies cricket team was formed in 1884 and we became the world champions for a sustainable period of time in the 1980s . . . .
“There was no West Indies team after 1998. There were 11 people playing cricket for the West Indies. The team that played for the next ten years and the collapse of the West Indies team in the next 15 years was not a West Indies team in the tradition of what a West Indies team is,” claims Sir Hilary.
Bleeding feet
“The West Indies team from the days of George Headley, through to the days of the Three Ws, through to the days of [Sir] Garry [Sobers] and [Sir] Wes [Hall], Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall – Malcolm Marshall bowling fast with a plaster . . . on his hand – a Wes Hall bowling with his feet bleeding through his boots. That team in ’98 and thereafter were not West Indies teams,” he said.
“The spirit and soul was ripped from its chest and had no cause and this is why the book is called Cricket Without A Cause,” Sir Hilary explained.
He said that all across the world people had been curious about why the West Indies had fallen so drastically and could not return to their former glorious state.
Sir Hilary was speaking to an audience which included Acting Governor General Sir Philip Greaves, Sir Wes Hall, Sir Everton Weekes, UWI pro vice chancellor and principal Dr Luz Longsworth, Barbados Cricket Association president Conde Riley and a number of other cricket enthusiasts.
He said that one of the crucial factors which surrounded the collapse of Windies cricket was the lack of togetherness and national pride.
“Caribbean people are the only people in the cricket world who can select a team to represent us as a nation and the cricketers who are selected, the citizens reject us and say we are not available and this is unique. I cannot imagine England selecting English players to represent their country and they say ‘I am not available, I have other things to do’.
“I cannot imagine an Indian team being selected and an Indian cricketer saying, ‘I cannot represent you. I am not available’. Imagine the mayhem that would be released, not only on that person, but on their fathers, great-grandfathers, village; everybody will get burned,” said Sir Hilary.
He said the Caribbean was the only place where people could reject national representation.
Society is divided
“A country calls you to represent it and you reject that representation and your society is divided that half of your citizens will support you and half will criticise you. Half of the prime ministers will say, ‘Leave the boy alone. What do you want him to do?’
“From the top to the bottom, West Indian people will be divided to the core. There is no way we are going to have an impact on the future world if we are going to be so divided on the question of representation,” declared Sir Hilary.
He added that it was impossible to play outstandingly if individuals were playing for their personal gain or to be in the spotlight, which is a topic he explores in the final chapter of his book.
“Excellent cricket cannot be played if you are simply playing for your personal remuneration, because cricketers have to dig deep into their spirits, into their souls at critical moments to find passion . . . . All of the great cricketers have been motivated by a cause bigger than themselves. The West Indies team became a shadow and has been a shadow in the dark for 15 years.” (RG)
