IT WASN’T a kissing, “mekking” up and begging back situation at Tuesday’s cricket meeting in Jamaica.
The gaping wounds in West Indies cricket remain and it doesn’t appear that healing will occur any time soon. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that any meeting involving the feuding Dinanath Ramnarine and Ernest Hilaire would’ve been heated and fruitless.
Ramnarine, as chief executive officer (CEO) of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), and Hilaire, the CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), have been at loggerheads from the time the latter took up his post two years ago.
It is noteworthy that ever since Chris Gayle, after refusing to sign a WICB retainer contract, was replaced by Darren Sammy late last year as West Indies captain, Hilaire has repeatedly delivered some uncomplimentary jabs at the straight-talking Jamaican.
Hilaire not only said he believed Gayle “is being ill-advised” in an interview on the Line and Length Network, but claimed: “We can dispel all that Chris said by releasing the letters and emails. But we should not do that.”Yet, he went on to say: “I’m not going to try to prove Chris Gayle wrong.”
He had pointed out that “we worked exceedingly hard to reach out to Chris . . . numerous attempts –letters, phone calls, emails” after Gayle claimed he wasn’t contacted and given a reason for his omission from the team for the Twenty20 Internationals and first two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Pakistan.
What was also contradictory was the WICB’s response that it was under the impression that Gayle was recuperating from injury when he accepted a late offer to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Gayle’s decision was one the majority of sportsmen throughout the world would have made, confronted with a similar situation with no guarantee about future national representation. Didn’t the WICB issue a press release on April 13 which stated that Adrian Barath had “not yet attained a level of satisfactory fitness and was not considered for selection” but making no mention of Gayle’s injury progress.
Shouldn’t it therefore be taken that Gayle’s non-selection was because the selectors, as was also stated, wanted to “expose other players” and build a bigger pool of international players.
Hence, I just couldn’t fathom why Gayle, who has pleaded for the board to get off his back, would have to explain himself to most of the same WICB officials like Hilaire and coach Ottis Gibson, whom he had criticized in his controversial radio interview.
Won’t it have been more prudent for both parties to meet before an independent arbitrator who would chair the proceedings and decide what course of action should be taken?
Why is it that WICB officials, from coach to CEO and captains [Gayle included] can chastise players and issue disparaging statements about their fitness and attitude, but the players are hauled over the coals whenever they chide those in authority, especially when the team is constantly losing.
Not being privy to what actually took place at the meeting – which really should’ve been held as soon as Gayle returned from the IPL – it would be unreasonable to say who was right or wrong, but West Indies cricket certainly is not benefiting from Gayle’s omission from the team.
Reports have indicated that the WICB wants Gayle to retract his condemnatory and denigrating remarks, while it appears that WIPA would like Gayle to be selected without an apology for his troublesome tirade. But is Gayle really being censored for ruffling a few feathers by bringing into the public domain issues which should be left under the carpet?
Did he breach the board’s code of conduct with his provocative pronouncements? Lest we forget, Gayle and Bravo were replaced as Test captain and vice-captain, respectively, after they opted not to sign the retainer contracts. Yet Bravo, still without a contract, was reappointed as vice-captain of the One-Day team.
Since Twenty20 cricket appears to be here to stay, what the WICB’s representatives to International Cricket Council (ICC) board meetings really should do is call for an open window for it in the international calendar, making it clear that no Twenty20 championship, whether it is the Australian Big Bash, the IPL or the Champions League, should be staged simultaneously with a Test or One-Day International series.
Why should the Indian, Australian, Sri Lankan, South African and other star cricketers play in these lucrative T20s but our West Indians, whose flamboyant style is in demand, not benefit too?