Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 12, 2009 Sports
Best players must be selected but must perform
Says Sean Devers
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) are locked in a bitter contract and payment battle which is causing severe and possibly irreparable damage to West Indies cricket.
If both parties don’t change their hard-line polices and power struggle, the game, which has brought West Indians together as a people more than any other aspect of Caribbean life since our inaugural Test in 1928, could be pushed into irrelevance in the region.
I grew up watching cricket during a period when the West Indies never lost a series in 15 years (1980-1995) and it breaks my heart to see the sport being destroyed by administrators who seem not to understand or care very little for cricket but revel in the glory of being in charge and the benefits they derive from the position.
Many of the players have also become selfish and are motivated by money instead of the pride and honour of representing the millions of West Indian fans.
Having said that, one must understand that times have changed from the amateur days when players took ‘leave’ from their jobs to sail for many days to represent the West Indies not sure if their job would be still there when they returned.
Back then the importance of showing especially our colonial masters (England) that we could conquer them in their own sport played a huge role in the mental emancipation of ordinary West Indian people.
Cricket was the ethos around which most Caribbean people lived. The historic 1950 victory at Lords played a significant role in the mental preparation of West Indies for Independence of the Islands and then British Guiana.
Today cricket has become a job for the present crop of players and the workload on their bodies due to the introduction of 50 overs and now 20/20 cricket is far greater than it was for their illustrious predecessors. Modernization and a lack of Caribbean history have also robbed the present players of understanding the sociological aspect of their contribution to nation building as West Indies cricketers.
The WICB staff is now paid a full time salary and money earned from cricket is the main income for the players who represent West Indies. While Barbadian Hayden Gill recently published what the players earn and said it was more than the annual salary of his country’s Prime Minister, it must be noted that players like Shivnarine Chanderpaul gave up a proper education to play cricket and that cricket is the players’ only means of income.
It must also be pointed out that unlike most other jobs, the money from cricket dries up when the player retires (most times in their 30s) and there is no ‘old age pension’ to collect. A West Indies player only earns the ‘big money’ when he plays International cricket and only for about a 15 year period. This money has to last him for the rest of his life and how well he invest it and whatever other ‘side jobs’ he can get (like playing in the IPL) helps to secure his future. Prime Ministers and most other workers earn well into their old age from their chosen profession.
Gill publicly quoted the players salary (their personal business) but did not say if they had in fact collected that amount and if so how long after completing their job.
For most fans (the people who take time off from work to see the matches, the ones who save hard earned money to support their team, those who feel elated when we win and depressed when we lose) all of this is inconsequential. All they want is entertaining cricket and success from the West Indies team.
It is the fans (who get nothing financially) who suffer the most when they are disputes like the present one. Both the WICB and WIPA must understand that the fans are the major stakeholders in West Indies cricket and have very little time for the power struggle between the two main forces that control the game in the region.
The WICB seems to be at war with everyone including their own Board members.
The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) took the unprecedented move to abandon the WICB’s annual general meeting last weekend in Antigua, stating in a letter to the WICB that the Board is characterized by flawed relationships with sponsors and major partners, including the players, as well as an inability to attract sponsors for regional tournaments.
Also at issue is the WICB-commissioned Patterson Report — that made recommendations about the governance of West Indies cricket – which the TTCB believes has been largely ignored.
At the WICB’s AGM last Sunday, it was reported that no settlement had been reached after the first phase of the Mediation Process to resolve the WICB dispute with WIPA.
The parties completed 25 hours of “intense discussion” with Mediator Sir Shridath Ramphal on Sunday without reaching “overall agreement” on the issues in dispute between them and Sir Shridath expressed disappointment in the process so far.
Why did the players withdraw their service?
The players decided not to play in the last Test series against Bangladesh because they were not paid in the recent past although they fulfilled their obligation to represent the West Indies. Making runs, taking wickets or the team winning in no way increases or decreases the players salaries.
WIPA says the players have played without tour contracts for 2008 and 2009 and that since there are no contracts, when a tour is completed the players get ‘something different’ from what was agreed.
The players want tour contracts before the team leaves for a series and to be paid when their job is completed. The WICB is now in the process of paying the players for the England tour.
None of the senior players have retainer contracts although the WICB have given such contracts to some of the promising young players in the region. West Indies Under-19 Vice-Captain Steven Jacobs confirmed that he is one of the players contracted but it is understood that the contracts are for relatively small amounts.
A WICB source yesterday said that the ‘big name’ players like Sarwan, Gayle and Chanderpaul don’t have retainer contracts.
The WICB says contracts are not given because WIPA constantly disagrees with the terms. WIPA President Dinanath Ramnarine says the WICB disregards WIPA’s comments on the draft copies of the contracts and maintains its position without negotiating although an MOU to negotiate all contracts was signed by WIPA and WICB.
Who played against Bangladesh?
After the squad for the first Test withdrew their services, it is reported that nearly 75 other players made themselves unavailable by not answering their phones or changing their numbers. This made the job of finding out who were available a nightmare for the selectors, two of whom were in Jamaica for the Under-19 series.
Chairman Clyde Butts was reportedly instructed to remain with the team of those who were willing to play and only arrived in Jamaica for the One-Day U-19 series.
Teenagers Andre Creary and Kraigg Braithwaite were taken to St Vincent from the youth series in Jamaica to ensure the WICB had a team to play to ensure they did not have to pay a fine to ICC. The composition or strength of the team was of little importance to the WICB.
According to one selector, they were forced to pick players who were available with little regard to talent and that a list of names was given to them by the WICB to choose from.
Being selected for the West Indies was no longer based on merit and it is understood that Professor Hilary Beckles (who played an integral role in having the University team play in the Regional First-Class competition) was instrumental in ‘finding’ players from UWI and Barbados who did not care for the WIPA cause.
These players, most of who were not considered for a full strength team, grabbed the opportunity to play Test cricket and earn a payday.
No longer is talent needed to represent the West Indies, but just being willing to play when those who merit selection based on standard decides not to play in protest of poor working conditions. As was expected, the 3rd rate West Indies team were whitewashed for the first time ever in both a Test and ODI home series.
Although Kemar Roach and Travis Dowlin showed form with good performances, the series loss left fans more disillusioned about West Indies cricket. The team could now be in danger of losing its Test status if the WICB continues to ignore the ‘best’ players who are now available.
Had the 3rd string team members decided not to play the WICB would have been forced to work out a compromise with the senior players.
While the senior players, who have regularly underachieved, are being painted as ‘money hounds’ with little commitment to West Indies cricket, most of those who opted to play also did so mainly for selfish reasons with little regard for West Indies cricket. The WICB itself looked only at saving money when they assembled a sub standard team. It would have been better for the image of West Indies cricket to call off the series than to be whitewashed by Bangladesh at home.
Available players not picked for S/Africa trip
:
At a meeting in Guyana on July 21, the heads of WIPA and WICB (at the request of WIPA) met with Guyana’s President Bharat Jagdeo to arrive at a way forward. Following the meeting the senior players relented and made themselves available for the One-Day home series and future tours for the year but were ignored by the WICB who proceeded to re-appoint Floyd Reifer, who had a dismal Test series, and as the One-Day captain.
A 30-man provisional squad was also named for next month’s Champions Trophy in South Africa without the ‘regular’ players, despite the poor showing by the make-shift team.
On Monday Sir Shridath Ramphal cleared the air on the availability of the senior players.
“For the removal of doubt and avoidance of misunderstanding, I make clear that the Mediation Process following the Georgetown Agreement between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association in no way affects the obligation of WICB to select the best West Indies team available for the ICC Champions Trophy tour of South Africa; and that the WICB has at least until 22 August to do so, including any changes to lists earlier supplied – notwithstanding the on going Mediation Process.
WICB need to act professionally:
The WICB has too many members without any real cricketing background and the majority of its members don’t seem to understand or care about West Indies cricket and the players.
While it is true that the players are not winning, it is the WICB who continue to pick them because they are none better in the region.
Millions of dollars are wasted by the WICB on lawyers who also seem to always end-up on the losing side in legal cases while the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium fiasco in Antigua this year only emphasized the incompetence of the WICB.
Players are as good or bad as the structure that produces them and there is no proper structure in place to develop our players mentally, physically and technically in the region. Our first class system is arguably the lowest standard among the International cricket nations and very little was done for the development of the teenagers in the recent regional Under-19 series in Jamaica.
In sweltering heat, only one day of rest was given to the players between games which resulted in many of them under-performing due to fatigue.
When I made my debut at the regional Under-19 level in 1987 I was paid US$100. It’s unbelievable that 22 years later the players’ fee have not increased although the cost of living has.
By not selecting the senior players for the South Africa tour with the knowledge that the make-shift team will most likely be soundly beaten shows that the WICB has little regards for the fans and the image of West Indies cricket at a time when even our best team struggle at the International level.
One shudders to think what will happen to this team on the Australian tour and it is not unrealistic to think that Cricket Australia will want to cancel the tour if the best available players are not selected. The present hard-line attitude by the WICB could result in the West Indies being left out of Test cricket if their team is deemed sub standard for that level.
If a professional league is not implemented in the region, proper Academies not set up in the various territories, more emphasis is not placed on 2-innings cricket for developing players and professional marketing for competitions to attract fans and sponsors is not done urgently, cricket in the region will die a natural death. The WICB seem not to understand that cricket is now a business and the players are the product they sell. If the players are not properly produced nobody will want to buy the brand called West Indies cricket.
WIPA need to understand what cricket means to West Indians:
It is felt that Ramnarine, the former Test leg-spinner, is too confrontational as WIPA President and has a personal problem with the WICB because of the way he was treated as a player.
However he has the support of the senior players and the Region’s first class players have re-elected him unopposed as WIPA head. Former West Indies Captain Jimmy Adams has publicly endorsed Ramnarine as WIPA President. Adams informed that some of the players actually think Ramnarine is not militant enough fighting the WICB for the players’ rights.
Ramnarine has operated with a Labor Union style and has made the WICB regularly look bad. He has produced for the players as WIPA President even if he is accused of only fighting for the Test men and not the regional First Class players.
It is known that WIPA did not initiate the recent pay increase for regional First Class players.
While the senior players support WIPA, the fact that WICB found so many players willing to play shows that the regional players are not a united force and that WIPA needs to place more emphasis on interacting with the non-International players.
If WIPA is truly concerned with the good of West Indies cricket and the fans then it must be willing to compromise when dealing with a Board which has little finance.
It must also get its players to show more commitment to West Indies cricket and to try to be more professional. Seminars on dress code, behavior and the history of West Indies cricket should be organized for players at all levels even though this should be WICB’s responsibility and the Academy would help.
Regardless of the success his style has achieved, WIPA must understand that Ramnarine might not be the ideal person to negotiate with the WICB in order for more meetings between the 2 sides not to end in stalemates.
WIPA’s role as the watchdog for West Indies cricket is an important one and the WICB and the Regional Boards must recognize and respect this organization even if they disagree with some of its demands.
Players must be judged on performance:
Although many feel the players performance don’t justify their money concerns, there is nothing which relates to performance in the WICB pay structure and it is time that WIPA accepts a performance clause in future contracts to force the players to ‘earn’ their pay and provide fans with more positive results.
Apart from Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Bravo and Taylor, all of the other West Indies players (including Gayle) will struggle to make most other Test sides and even the ‘best’ West Indies team is far too inconsistent at the International level.
While the players must earn a decent income since their full time job is cricket and they have to prepare for life after their cricket careers, they must understand that their consistent failures amounts to ‘drawing money under false pretence’ and that the fans deserve better.
The general attitude of West Indian cricketers from U-15 level right up leaves much to be desired and often you get the impression that personal fulfillment (off of the field) is more important than the cricket. The modern West Indies players, who earn far more than their predecessors (they play more cricket and are more susceptible to injury and fatigue) are raked 8 in both Test and ODIs.
Even the regional youth players lack the discipline and patriotism shown by the players of previous eras and while there is still plenty of talent, watching the Regional Under-19 series in Jamaica did not inspire much hope for the future of West Indies cricket unless attitudes are changed by players and administrators.
The low club and regional standard allows ordinary players to do well but then struggle at the Test level, even against mediocre teams. If the WICB and their respective regional boards don’t re-organize the club structure in the West Indies and the players don’t have to do more than make a few runs or bowl a few ‘tight’ spells to make their national teams, our cricket will continue to struggle both on and off the field.
Having to choose between a proper education and cricket is another problem for youths since regional boards set competitions and trials during school and exam periods and players have to decide between afternoon lessons and practice sessions. The lack of education by most of the Region’s young players is a massive contributing factor to their poor performances under pressure since many of them seem incapable of analyzing situations and showing mental fortitude when necessary.
For now though, we have to pick our best players and hope they can play consistent cricket while both WIPA and WICB will have to loose some ground and stop the hard-line politics they both now adopt if there is to be any hope of saving a game that has become a part of West Indian culture.
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