BY ALL ACCOUNTS, one of the major talking points around the country on Wednesday morning was Jason Holder’s dialogue with Andrew Mason on the veteran commentator’s radio show the previous evening.
Whichever way it goes, this is the sort of stuff that media crave: to have a prominent public personality involved in an unscheduled “live” interaction. And when there is an element of confrontation, even at a comparatively polite level, it will obviously generate debate, even more so given that one of the key roles of social media, it seems, is to highlight, inflame, misrepresent and otherwise sensationalise.
Which explains why the modern communications medium is so immensely popular with all age-groups but also why, increasingly, many are choosing to stay off those platforms, which are more about bacchanal and gossip than meaningful information.
But back to Tuesday’s entertainment, where the West Indies Test and One-Day International captain queried Mason as to why he had never had a one-on-one conversation with the cricketer, despite several opportunities including an elevator journey together, and especially because of his continuing criticism of Holder’s credentials as a leader.
Based on the reactions to the exchange, it appears that the broadcaster was stumped without need for recourse to the television umpire. Whether or not this is a fair assessment, there is obviously the issue of pent-up frustration which would have prompted Holder to make the call in seeking to get his point across, and as he also indicated, commend the work of the host as a commentator on the game.
Anyone in the region with any sense of the disproportionate significance given to cricket and all the issues associated with it will appreciate how someone caught in the middle, like the skipper of a struggling team that has just been hammered at home, will feel the need to defend himself, or at least seek clarification from a vociferous critic.
As stated before, it is easy to forget that Holder is still only 25 years old, is relatively inexperienced compared with other international captains, and given the manner in which he came into the job (in the aftermath of the Indian tour abandonment in October, 2014) and the virulent criticism that follows him specifically and the team in general as they stumble from one disappointing performance to another, he has actually handled himself remarkably well in the public eye.
Yes, it gets to the point, as with the 3-0 ODI series loss to England earlier this month, where you wonder if he even believes what he is saying as he trots out the same lines about failure to execute and looking forward to the next match with a positive mindset to explain away another loss.
He hasn’t blown a gasket yet, at least not publicly, which is quite an achievement, and maybe that call on Tuesday evening was a way of releasing some of that frustration. Still, it can be a perilous journey to tread to take on the media, even if the intervention is seen as fully justified, for more than anything else, it needs to be kept in mind that practitioners in the media will always have the last word.
There is absolutely nothing wrong, though, with any cricketer or anyone in public life for that matter seeking to defend themselves if they feel they are being unjustly disparaged. If it results, though, in a loss of focus, where a battle with the media in general or a particular individual absorbs more energy and attention than is necessary, then it becomes a problem.
Why? Well, we media people are invariably such egotists that we will hardly ever surrender an issue just so. A reaction begets a counteraction and so on and so on, until what is often referred to as a full-blown media “war” has developed.
It is indeed fantastic in retaining an audience, which is what the media are in the business of doing, but can also become a bigger and bigger distraction from whatever job is in front of the individual who feels he or she needs to respond to every perceived attack.
It is, of course, easier said than done to simply ignore a rising tide of criticism or a particularly strident detractor. But this is something Holder will have to learn so long as he continues to bear the mantle of leadership in West Indies cricket and even in his own game, which has hinted occasionally at the potential for world-class consistency but is a long, long way from getting anywhere close to achieving the sort of all-round performance required.
And as he will already know, the best way to silence the critics is to perform, for as former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Basdeo Panday, famously uttered almost two decades ago, performance beats old talk every time.
Fazeer Mohammed is a regional cricket journalist and broadcaster who has been covering the game at all levels since 1987.
