Sun, sea and...stereotypes

Fun in the caribbean sun with rum. so the stereotype goes © Getty Images

With less than a week to go before the West Indies cricket squad departs for the tour of New Zealand, a journalist from that far-flung country e-mailed an enquiry yesterday concerning the reasons for the decline of the regional side in the past decade.

I didn't even have to complete the first sentence of his correspondence to know what was coming next: "It has been speculated over here that the fast bowling stocks have plummeted as the region's most talented athletes are taking basketball scholarships in the US instead. Is there any truth to this or are there more compelling reasons?"

If only it were that simple. On the last tour of Australia mere weeks ago, almost every other cricket scribe over there posed the same question, some going as far to say that baseball, they hear, is sweeping through the Caribbean. Our players have certainly taken up a bit of the baseball jargon in the persistent reference now to batsmen as "batters". Who knows, maybe if the International Cricket Council continues to relax the rules concerning bowling actions, then "pitchers" may also become an appropriate term?

As mere satellites of the United States-nominally independent but economically and, more significantly, mentally enslaved by the great Land of Hope and Glory - it is probably understandable that those with even a fair knowledge of circumstances in the former British West Indies will automatically assume that we have gone the way of all things red, white and blue.

From Christchurch to Kolkata, Birmingham to Bahawalpur, the general impressions of our relatively tiny specks of earth (not forgetting of course Guyana on the South American mainland) are, outside of cricket, that of idyllic tourist playgrounds where the natives smile all day as they serve up the rum punches while the languid beauties saunter along the postcard-perfect beaches.

It may be argued that by the qualification of Jamaica eight years ago, and Trinidad and Tobago now, that football is forging a different identity of the English-speaking Caribbean to the outside world.

But is it really? Just as the very popular movie Cool Runnings was nothing more than a demeaning stereotype of Jamaica and things Jamaican, it seems the intention of those persons of influence in these matters is to continue to sell the idea of the island paradise via the medium of the global football stage. Coining terms like "Reggae Boyz" and "Soca Warriors" is more about branding and marketing than anything truly reflective of the respective countries.

We don't even see ourselves as countries in our own right, but oases of opportunity for tourists and investors to pump in their foreign currency, hence the stereotypes. What better way to keep the rest of the world looking in our direction than to reinforce the message that down here, everything is just the way you like it? If perchance you don't like anything, no problem, our proficiency in the art of the limbo means we are adept at bending over backwards to meet your every need.

This doesn't mean that the squad arriving in Germany at the end of May should have emblazoned on their uniforms the latest murder and kidnapping statistics. Nor should the cultural delegation (whatever that is) perform their little dances, sing their catchy songs and play their lovely instruments against a backdrop of banners proclaiming the rate of HIV infection or the figures on drug abuse in sweet T&T.

Yet this is the stark reality of life, not just in this twin-island state, but every other territory of the Caribbean, whether formerly British, Spanish, French, Dutch or Portuguese. It is not the message we want to trumpet to the outside world, but only someone with his head buried in the beautiful white sands will proclaim that social circumstances have almost no bearing on the decline of the West Indies from the undisputed kings of world cricket to the very bottom of the rankings among truly established Test-playing nations.

In this context of presenting a lovely international face despite deep-seated social ills, it is probably understandable that even journalists of the British Commonwealth would see our cricketing issues in simplistic terms. Pay all the tall black fellas a whole heap of money to keep them out of the clutches of the NBA and the problem is solved. Then, just as it was in the glory days, opponents will tremble at the sight of the imposing figures coming off the plane. But things are not so straightforward, especially here.

When the team led by Shivnarine Chanderpaul arrives in Auckland a week from today, some among the journalists and the few curious fans who turn up will be asking if the fast bowlers are arriving on a separate flight. When they are advised that they're all there, it's just that they don't look like they used to, the questions will arise again: What happened to all those big guys? Which basketball teams do they play for? And by the way, how long does it take to drive from Bridgetown to Kingston?

No one can change such ingrained misconceptions overnight or in the space of a few weeks. Indeed, some would like it to stay that way because it serves their particular interests. But if we like it so, we should also not be offended or frustrated by comments from outside that betray an almost complete lack of understanding of the challenges we face, both on and off the field.