England ‘A' good for development

Tough times often call for bold, innovative measures.

This is a tough time for West Indies cricket. We have had diminishing results over the past five years and we have not been producing the calibre of player that we did in the past.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has moved to address this problem by first starting a comprehensive coaching programme targeting children of all ages and, last weekend, taking the proactive decision to allow England 'A' team and an Under-23 West Indies team to compete in the 2001 Busta Cup.

The WICB has an obligation to host an England 'A' team between January and May 2001, a commitment made in good faith in 1998 by the now retired WICB chief executive officer.

The heavy schedule of cricket that materialised subsequent to that commitment, threatened the board's ability to meet this obligation. This in turn could have jeopardised a developmentally important reciprocal tour of England by the West Indies 'A' team, scheduled for 2002.

In attempting to find a manageable way of hosting the England 'A' team, the possibility of their participation in the regional firstclass competition was proposed and in principle agreed to by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the executive committee of WICB.

The proposal, suitable for dealing with the WICB's obligations in the short term, also has significant merit for further examination as an ongoing plan.

It must be recognised that West Indies cricket is at an important crossroads. Once the undisputed kings of the cricket world, the West Indies Test and One-Day teams require pro-active redevelopment to regain a consistent competitive position.

It is generally felt that there are young players in the Caribbean who have the athletic ability, but lack the technical proficiency, professionalism or quality first-class cricket experience to perform consistently at the highest level. The younger players have little of no opportunity of playing quality professional cricket overseas to augment their development over the next crucial three to five years.

Faced with all this you must examine what the main priorities of the WICB are and what is the main purpose of domestic tournaments.

The previously established priority of the board at this time is to improve the quality of players and its domestic tournaments in order to develop a stronger West Indies team. The main purpose of the domestic tournaments is not to crown a Caribbean champion, but to be a key developmental conduit for West Indian cricketers.

If this is the agreed priority and it is established that full participation of overseas teams would help development, then the parochial need to have a West Indian team win the domestic competition for symbolic purposes should be of comparatively limited importance.

England and Australia for many years used the presence of West Indies players to help improve the level of their game. In addition, there is no doubt the participation of England 'A' will make matches more competitive. There is nothing to stir the blood of West Indies players and supporters like playing against 'the old enemy'.