WI ‘elite’ afraid of licks, not covid19

THE EDITOR: June 16, 2019: A "full-strength, star-studded" West Indies team (including Jason Holder, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Darren Bravo, Oshane Thomas, Sheldon Cottrell and Shannon Gabriel) is playing Bangladesh in Somerset, England. It's an ICC 50-over World Cup match.

West Indies bats first, scoring 321 for 8. Bangladesh chased it down like a walk in the park with 51 balls to spare, losing only three wickets. On the day, they would easily have chased down 400. We were badly beaten at a neutral venue.

A year and a half later, the West Indies is due to play against Bangladesh, in Bangladesh. Given the prospect of being embarrassed even more, with Bangladesh having the advantage of playing at home, in familiar conditions, with essentially the same team, our "elite" players decide to turn tail and run, citing covid19 as their convenient scapegoat. Here's proof of the hypocrisy of some.

With a population of 163 million and 8,000 covid19 deaths, Bangladesh's deaths per 100,000 is 4.9. With a population of ten million and 820 covid19 deaths, deaths per 100,000 in the United Arab Emirates is 8.2, nearly twice as much as Bangladesh.

So, tell me, ODI captain Kieron Pollard, if you had no problem abandoning your team in Bangladesh for fear of covid19, how come you choose to captain the Deccan Gladiators in the UAE's T10 League where the death rate from the virus is almost twice as high? Did you think 8.2 was "safer" than 4.9? Or did the higher bid win? Questions must also be asked of others.

From their point of view, I suppose the "elites" had to choose between licks in Bangladesh (since most are clueless against good-quality spin) for less money, and higher pay in the UAE where no one really cares who wins or loses, and you do have a lot of fun. A match lasts a total of 20 overs, and the pay is good for one and a half hours’ work.

In any case, given the strict ICC protocols governing international matches, it's perhaps much safer to play in these matches than in regional matches or, worse, the T10 League in the UAE.

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with players earning as much as they can, but they can't be encouraged to think they can flit in and out of the West Indies team as and when they please. Those who show commitment to the team's cause must be given priority. Given time, they will come good.

For those who are overly critical of the current team in Bangladesh, don't for one moment think the "stars" would have done any better. I disproved that notion above. The best we can do is give the team our full support. At least they are proud to represent us, unlike those who chose to abandon ship.

NOEL KALICHARAN

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