West Indies: It's time to act (30 Oct 1997)

October 30, 1997

West Indies: It's time to act

The Gleaner

West Indies cricket has survived many problems over the years - including insularity, the 1978 walkout of players following the invasion of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, and the 1992 boycott of the Test match at Kensington Oval, and it should survive those ahead.

The storm which is forming in Trinidad and Tobago however, is potentially dangerous, and if the West Indies Board does not act, and quickly at that, the storm, as harmless as it appears now, could develop into a hurricane - one which could sweep through the islands with devastating effect on West Indies cricket.

The outbursts of Alloy Lequay is nothing new. Like the man in the street, the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control and a member of the WICB has seldom missed an opportunity to criticise and condemn the WICB whenever things do not go Trinidad and Tobago's way.

While many of Lequay's previous outbursts could be dismissed as the kind of insularity which has plagued West Indies cricket over the years, the recent episodes cannot be ignored. They can't be in face of the following claims: that there is a plot to destroy Lara; that as representatives of the WICB, neither he nor Richard DeSouza know how Courtney Walsh was appointed captain of the West Indies team for the current tour and who nominated him for the job; that re the vice-captaincy issue the representatives of the Barbados Cricket Association are also concerned because they too were not aware of any decision taken by the WICB; that critical decisions which should be made by the WICB or the executive are now being made by the hierarchy outside of meetings and are not conforming to policy decisions; and that the TTCBC is raising certain issues to "sensitise people that West Indies cricket administration is heading in the wrong direction".

Although the behaviour of Lequay is nothing new, there are those who believe that the recent outbursts stem from the fact that he has been relieved of some of his previous responsibilities as far as the WICB programmes are concerned, and most importantly, because of the impression, certainly in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, that the president of the WICB, Jamaican Pat Rousseau, is Jamaicanising West Indies cricket.

Once an influential person on the WICB, once the chairman of the development committee, Lequay is no longer. The vice-president is Julian Hunte of St. Lucia - and he is also now the chairman of the development committee, one of the two representatives to the International Cricket Conference and a member of one of its sub committees.

The charge that Jamaica is taking over West Indies cricket, comes not only from the early statement that one of the two zones of the Red Stripe Bowl, the semi-finals and the final would always be played in Jamaica, but from the employment of Chris Dehring as marketing executive and Reggie Scarlett as director of coaching.

Whatever the reasons for the attack on what Lequay calls "the hierarchy", and even if they are unfounded, West Indies cricket cannot afford for it to continue.

The present atmosphere is not good for the game, and especially remembering that Lequay said he had been in contact with Barbados re the vice-captaincy issue. It could take West Indies cricket back to the days when it was divided into three groups - Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands.

The present reading of the situation is that there are two groups - Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands. Even that however, is not good for West Indies cricket. There needs to be more harmony among the members.

Because of the insularity which has never been absent from West Indies cricket, harmony won't be easy to achieve. The Board however, the leadership of the Board, has to lead the way.

To do so, the leadership has to be firm. It cannot afford to be weak - as it was during all the problems with Lara in 1995, and regardless of who was right and who was wrong, more recently when it failed to solve the differences between Lara and Courtney Walsh and when it left the vice-captain of the West Indies team to be selected by the tour committee.

Based on the reports that Lara was peeved at not being named the captain, based on the consensus that Walsh snobbed Lara by not going out with him for the toss at Chedwin Park, the Board should have got them together, cleared the air, and regardless of who it would have been, appointed the vice-captain.

In West Indies cricket, the potential for problems was such that the Board should have acted - even though the tour committee has been doing the job recently.

One year ago, Rousseau was the toast of the West Indies - especially after that memorable get-together banquet at the Pegasus hotel. And there is no question that he is putting together a framework that should assist in the further development of West Indies cricket.

Right now however, insularity is once again rearing its ugly head, those who feel hard done are lashing out, and especially if the West Indies team loses a series or two, they could influence those with their own agenda.

There are times when such things can be ignored and should be ignored. In the interest of West Indies cricket however, something has to be done about the storm which is developing in Trinidad and Tobago, and Rousseau has the capacity to do so.

This is Rousseau's first test in what was never going to be an easy job. He should now call his team together, and if Lequay's accusations are true, explain what should be explained. If they are not, he should say what should be said, and in the interest of West Indies cricket, do what must be done.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)