THE SOUL of West Indies cricket is at stake amidst all of the verbal wars in the past week.
It shows that we have reached a juncture where individuals are prepared to fight with bare knuckles to get over their points, irrespective of who is maimed in the process.
It has become a blood sport and it calls into question who really has the best interest of cricket at heart; who are the real revolutionaries and who are the mercenaries, if we can borrow that analogy from Bob Marley’s song Zimbabwe.
If, for the umpteenth time, we have a problem on the eve of a series, it says that we haven’t learned from past experiences or that some people don’t care about the kind of negative impact this is bound to have on the team, once they are able to flex their muscles and show who is boss.
More than being egotistical, it is as if personal bragging rights is more important than having a team in the best frame of mind to represent the interest of West Indies cricket.
Dwayne Bravo could have been right when he claimed that firing head coach Phil Simmons just ahead of the current series against Pakistan was a psychological blow to the players, and particularly so, if in his words, the former boss had gained the trust of his charges.
In solidarity
This line of attack could infer that some of the players were in solidarity with Simmons, given the poor way they felt he was treated and it threw their game off.
It might also have been an indication that there was some division in the ranks over the decision to axe Simmons and subsequently it was a case of an individual rather than a collective effort once they got into the middle.
How else could anyone explain the manner of the whitewash, especially in the T20s, when only months ago we were crowned world champions for a second time?
Truth be told, if we didn’t know better, we would think that Pakistan were the champions because we played like chumps.
Something didn’t seem right, even in terms of their body language, so we could surmise that there were underlying factors in this regard. Things like this can happen in team sport if there’s any attempt to polarise the players. It is a natural reaction when it seems that a certain agenda is being pushed and it won’t be conducive to team unity.
Manager Joel Garner came out with a robust counter attack to the Bravo claims, but I still wasn’t convinced from what he said that Simmons’ sudden departure didn’t affect the squad.
Through compliance, the lads did all the routine drills, but it didn’t mean their heart was into it or that they were focused at that point. Surely, if it was opposite to my reasoning, their efforts were far from being replicated on the field. In fact, their performance could have been a reflection of their state of mind.
You could argue that as professionals they should get on with the job they are paid to do, but at the end of the day, they are still human beings.
Have to be careful
The politics in West Indies cricket is in overdrive and we have to be extremely careful and vigilant and don’t allow those in pursuit of personal glory to do greater damage to our mission of being one of the game’s super powers again.
But who can truly prevent the probable ruin of our dreams and aspirations when those at the top bluntly refuse to take talking to even from some of the most influential and informative figures in the region?
What chance then for John Public to make a meaningful and genuine contribution to the present conversation about the uncertain state of our cricket and get people at the top to listen, if nothing else?
In a previous column, I spoke about what appears to be the Barbadianisation of regional cricket in respect of individuals being placed in senior leadership positions and I felt it was a good idea based on the renowned input we have made as players and administrators in the past.
On the flip side, they have to watch their own backs because if the current experiment fails, they will be the chief ones to get the blame.
Both Holder and Carlos Brathwaite became captains when still in the embryonic phases of their international careers. Was it right to thrust them in these positions so soon, as if there was an apparent agenda to put some players, deemed to have stepped out of line, in their place?
Overlooked
Such moves could inadvertently lead to dissent in the team especially among senior players who may feel they were overlooked for juniors who haven’t really made their mark as yet. I leave you to read between the lines.
It is a very silly game being played if there are some who do not recognise that sound reasoning holds the answer to a renaissance in West Indies cricket.
The soul of our cricket is wounded and bleeding profusely but who among the current crop of administrators has the will and skills to stop it from turning into a terminal sore?
