Windies cricket needs protection

LET’S turn back the clock and look for clues.

As some would have us believe, West Indies cricket didn’t start in the 1980s. Nor was its popularity achieved by not losing a Test series between 1980 and 1995. A film was also produced that only highlighted the tremendous pace bowling of the eighties and nineties.

However, WI cricket made big strides from the time they were accepted in 1928 as a Test-playing region which combined the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean as one unit to engage their colonisers in Test matches. Before that recognition, West Indian people had developed a love for the game and through the efforts of these pioneers, the early Caribbean citizens improved themselves at the sport.

Excitement grew in the WI as time marched on and the realisation that they were good enough at the sport to compete with the Englishmen and the Australians, the initial two competitors that battled each other for the Ashes. It was noticeable that the West Indian possessed a natural flair for the game which excited the staid, conservative character of the Englishman.

The first one they invited to play in their leagues at home was the late Sir Learie Constantine who lit up the playing fields of Great Britain.

This was in 1929, the year after WI’s first official tour of England in 1928. A number of West Indians followed because of the success of Learie with his natural coordination and his exciting flamboyance.

The officials of the popular Lancashire League wasted no time in their search of our islands for other fascinating players to electrify their fields; and those who had the talent to play the game, plus, the need to improve their standard of living, grabbed the opportunity to move to the “mother country” as it was called in those days, to play cricket professionally.

In order to build the popularity of their game, the Marylebone Cricket Club, better known as the MCC, encouraged this influx of new players who were naturally talented ball players. On the other hand, the visiting cricketers improved their game through this exposure and were paid as professionals. It was not first-class cricket, therefore, representing their islands was not denied.

WI cricket picked up quickly and just twenty-two years later (only 6 Test series were played during that time, given the era) they won their first Test series in England. Fifteen years later, in only their fifth Test series against Australia, they were victorious.

In 1977, an Australian business magnate, Kerry Packer, who owned the Channel Nine television network, envious of not being able to procure the television rights for cricket on his TV channel, came to a decision to have his own international cricket tournament in Australia, World Series Cricket.

He based his decision on the crowd-pulling attraction of the Caribbean cricketers.

Their true professionalism started then.

Hence, they went on a winning spree for the next 15 years. They won 40 Tests, lost only seven games from 1980 to 1995, never losing a single series out of 18. Packer then came to an agreement with the WICBC and the Australian Cricket Board of Control and abandoned his cricket league. He claimed at the time that he never wanted to upset the status quo, but merely to prove a point to the ACBC.

The similarities end there. However, the West Indian nature hadn’t changed, hence, the same characteristics are evident that attract the present-day franchise clubs to Caribbean cricketers; although WI are struggling to climb out of the pit of failure and disillusionment, the franchises are still after them, because of their flair and natural ability to play the game.

Nonetheless, as a team, they’re wayward and not performing consistently.

The International Cricket Council, the authority on cricket worldwide, will eventually have to introduce rules to protect the game of cricket in countries, wealthy or not.

When the IPL began, the BCCI stopped Indian players from playing franchise cricket outside of India, by paying them.

Meanwhile, other cricketers are invited to play in franchises to the detriment of their home countries that cannot compete financially.

Although there’s a protective No Objection Certificate that has to be used to give approval, the WI authority refuses to deprive the cricketer of such a financial windfall. Thus, a serious problem.

Cricket West Indies has to consider the effort and organisation required to produce an individual cricketer of a high standard, plus, the huge financial output necessary, without any return on their investment.