Free time to think is a wonderful thing (17 August 1999)

17 August 1999

Free time to think is a wonderful thing

Colin Croft

Okay, boys and girls, I am finally back. I doubt that I was really missed, but one could only be so full of oneself, so I choose to believe that you actually missed my articles over the last month or so. I can say that my "holidays," such as they were, were very enjoyable, if tiring, if one could call spending money one does not have, in Florida and New York, and driving all of 4300 miles in 28 days, with kids, enjoyable. Actually, it was great! I had a ball! More on that another time.

I actually left the Caribbean about July 12 for my so-called vacation, shortly after doing so much work for the BBC in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. While the World Cup was a very big personal triumph with me covering 24 of the 42 games played, I finished that cricket competition especially angry, not disappointed. This, incidentally, had nothing to do with the loss of my lap-top computer at Old Trafford during the Pakistan-New Zealand semi-final. I was, and still am, very angry at the lethargy and apathy surrounding West Indies cricket, especially that coming from the most important people in West Indies cricket, or any other country's cricket for that matter, the fans and supporters.

Let me explain. Pakistan, with its plethora of talent, managed to be badly beaten and embarrassed in the World Cup final against Australia. No-one will ever know what really happened to Pakistan in that game, since Pakistan is still easily the most talented cricket team in the world. Simply, they did turn up but did not play well at all.

The backlash of that defeat and surrounding circumstances was that many of the Pakistani players could not return to Pakistan until very much later, and, indeed, the entire Pakistani Cricket Board was removed, pending whatever enquiries could be made into match-fixing situations, among other things. Many of the players, on their return to Pakistan, were pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes, their homes defaced and their families threatened. While these things are not to be condoned, one could understand the fervour of the Pakistani supporters. Yet, one must remember that at least, Pakistan actually won through to the final of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. That is not such a bad effort, after all. However, the Pakistani supporters expected more.

The former champions, Sri Lanka, has also suffered a remarkable shake-up after their disappoining showing too in the World Cup. That was to be expected.

Contrast that to the West Indian effort. The West Indies were eliminated in the first round of the competition, allowing even cricket minions, in a sense, Zimbabwe, to go through to the Super Sixes stages. It was not only that the West Indies were eliminated, but the outright inept performances of most of the players which rankled. Yet, the resulting backlash, or lack thereof, was even more disappointing, if anything. The silence from our parts was deafening.

Since the West Indies exit from the World Cup, shamed by the Australians in that preliminary game at Old Trafford, no-one has said a single word. Neither the captain, nor the manager, nor the West Indies Board, nor the players themselves, have even managed to apologize to us, the supporting public for their poor showing. The team simply returned to the Caribbean and all, for all intents and purposes, seem to be status quo.

I always make this analogy. If a government in the Caribbean, which only represents the populace of that particular country, is not working well, then that government and its leaders can be voted out of office. Many have been in my lifetime.

Yet, when the West Indies cricket team, which, in a similar way, represents us all, and has a greater responsibility, since it encompasses the entire Caribbean, does not do well, no-one seems perturbed in the least. Surely even we in the Caribbean cannot be so blase'.

Is it that, as a special lady friend tells me, it does not matter, or is it that we do not care at all anymore, or is it that the cricket team and all of its varied parts are too "big" for the population of the Caribbean to care to try to remove the uselessness?

Mostly, the fans should be vocal at this continued embarrassment from our senior cricket team. Over the last several years, they have not only become the virtual whipping boys of almost every major cricket team and competition, but have also managed, communication-wise, as I had mentioned before, to become the most unpopular and unfriendly cricket team in the world. Luckily, I was not the one to remark on this, but the international press at the World Cup. This is gone past embarrasing and shameful. It is disgraceful! Something must change!

In the next several months leading up to the new millenium, the senior West Indies cricket team will be going on short tours of Singapore, Bangladesh, Sharjah and New Zealand. In following articles, I will assess the players selected and the situations necessary for success. Everyone wants us now that we can be whipped so easily! While it is nice for the players to make great livings from the cricket, should they not give something back, like performances worth a senior cricket team?

However, more to the point and the immediate future, the people immediately involved with West Indies cricket, the WICB, the Caribbean governments and especially the most important peoiple, the fans and supporters, MUST see to it that our representatives, are better equipped to represent us properly, both in word and in deed.

The new millenium is four months away. We need a new start, not patches on the same old mosaic!! Break this listless mould. Make a new model for the 2000's. Cricket in the Caribbean screams for it! Enjoy!

Source :: Colin E Croft