Here we go again

Drop everybody, pick anybody. Fire everybody, hire anybody.

It just seems so depressingly repetitive, this latest in the seemingly interminable series of cycles that have continued to define West Indies cricket, especially in the last 12 years. Every significant victory is heralded as the start of the turnaround. Every defeat, or succession of them as in this case, triggers all sorts of weeping and wailing, lamentations of a deepening crisis, emotion-laden accusations and a staggering assortment of recommendations for a guaranteed quick-fix.

Even in the dry season, we keep spinning top in mud, for nothing in any of this is new. The only thing that has changed is the context. Now it just happens to be the World Cup in our own backyards, but the present scenes and reactions could be easily back-dated to any of the previous World Cup disappointments or numerous Test series whitewashes endured in the past decade. The wave of great expectations that swept the region after the defeat of Pakistan in the opening match 22 days ago (it already seems even longer than that) was generated by the same restless ocean that produced a record Test run-chase against Australia in Antigua, a dramatic Champions Trophy triumph in England and a throttling of South Africa on the way to the final of the same tournament less than six months ago in India.

Still, we react in such extremes to both triumph and failure as if it had never happened before. Like the new electronic scoreboards at so many of the grounds around the region, including, sadly, the Queen's Park Oval, we are only aware of what is happening right now. There is little in the way of appreciation of the bigger picture. There is no awareness, to say nothing of analysis, of what has gone before to shape a more realistic expectation of what is yet to come, even allowing for the game's inherent unpredictability.

And speaking of those legendary glorious uncertainties, who is ready to completely rule out yet another schizophrenic transformation, beginning next Tuesday in Grenada against South Africa? If it should come to pass that the team now being condemned at every turn lifts the trophy on April 28, does it automatically mean that all is well again? Yes, we are an emotional people and, yes, West Indies cricket means a lot to many of us, but surely, surely, by now, enough of us should realise that winning and losing are not ends in themselves but symptomatic of deep-rooted realities of life in the former British colonies of the Caribbean.

If this all sounds too bookish and academic, it is only because we are not prepared, willing or able to take the time for careful assessment of any situation, sporting or otherwise. Our generation has surrendered its intellect to the demands of what we have allowed to become a society of instant gratification. Nothing that takes time is worth doing well, even if it is moulding a disciplined, educated young person who may become a great sporting hero or heroine, but, more importantly, is conditioned and inculcated in the values of being a responsible adult, a good parent and a productive citizen.

All of this is too boring in a culture that, 200 years after the end of the slave trade, is willingly shackled to the principle of looking after number one, at whatever cost, from the very highest to the very lowest levels.

What does any of this have to do with getting our tails well and truly cut by Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in less than a week? Social scientists and historians- the real ones, not the fly-by-night, popularity-seeking variety- are much better placed to make a proper analysis, but it would not be surprising to learn that the value systems that define the wildly inconsistent cricketer, insincere politician, scheming businessman and hoggish maxi-taxi driver are one and the same.

Maybe the understanding of how Chris Gayle can be an agitated, combative, ultra-aggressive "Player of the Tournament" at the last Champions Trophy, and the equivalent of the walking dead in the last couple of matches is the same as for the successful executive who beats his wife every so often or the weekly-paid worker who drinks and gambles away his earnings by Monday morning.

In many more ways than we are prepared to believe, cricket, probably more than any other sport because of its length and complexity, is a fairly reliable reflection of life in our part of the world. Until we are prepared to step back and assess issues selflessly and impartially, we will always be standing in our shoes and wondering how it came to this. Until we learn to resist the overpowering temptation to react instantaneously, superficially and with only selfish, insular motives in mind, we will always be mourning for a succession of lost generations, individuals blessed with abundant God-given talent but cut loose from the solid moorings of respect, discipline and integrity.

We do not need Naipaul's sneering, condescending arrogance or the patronising tone of some of these visiting cricket journalists and broadcasters to educate us as to our own problems and challenges. We know exactly what they are, but just aren't prepared to make the sacrifices or the meaningful commitment to remedy them.

Until then, World Cup triumph or World Cup failure, Lara or no Lara, this is how it's going to be for a long, long time...in cricket and in life.