PM weighs in on woeful WI cricket –Accustomed to losing

FOR FAR too long, the West Indies cricket team – across all formats of the game – has grown accustomed to losing. And if the Prime Minister has his way, his intention is to reverse this trend by targetting a resurgence in club cricket in order to unearth new talent in the region.

Dr Rowley made this clear as he again expressed his disappointment over the performance of the regional team which, coming off a 1-0 Test loss to India, are also 1-0 down int he three-match ODI series.

While he does not voluntarily want to take charge of WI cricket by virtue of his new dispensation as chairman of the Caricom Heads of Government's Sub-Committee on Cricket, Rowley said he believes all is not lost.

With him at the helm and with the input of other regional leaders, he believes they can turn it around.

To get there, however, he said, players have to change their attitude, “because holding a bat and wearing a gold chain around (your neck) will not our legacy preserve.”

He warned that if they are not careful, “losing becomes a habit.”

Rowley outlined several measures to turn the sport around, including an injection of capital via the national budget, as he turned the sod for the new Palo Seco Velodrome on Friday evening.

He elicited some laughter as he related to the audience that the moment the news spread across the Caribbean that he had accepted the cricketing lead, congratulatory messages began pouring in.

“People were telling me they are glad I am now in charge of the West Indies cricket.

“Ladies and gentlemen, do you think anybody would voluntarily want to be in charge of WI cricket? I am not in charge of WI cricket. Don’t make that mistake.”

On a sobering note, he pointed out that like TT, Caricom heads have acknowledged and are taking on board the role and legacy sport could and should play in our general well-being.

He said there must be a role for governments of the region in coming to the aid of sporting efforts and institutions if they are failing if they are stumbling and if they require handout.

In conversations with regional colleagues, he said, “we have concluded that one of the reasons why WI cricket is failing in the many ways it is failing, it is because at the community level, the sport of cricket now is not what it used to be in our territories.”

In examining why WI cricket went from the mountain top to the bottom of the valleys, he said what stands out is that club cricket in the region has deteriorated to the extent that there are fewer clubs and fewer people playing the sport.

“I take this responsibility as chairman of the Caricom sporting Committee, one of the things I intend to focus on is to encourage club cricket across the region.

“Especially here in TT because that is the foundation on which the game will have to be built If the national team is going to draw and strengthen the sport .

“It is strong national teams in the Caricom region that will generate a resurgent west Indies team nothing else will do. The foundation of our cricket has to be club cricket

In order to provide the impetus for the activity, he said he will take to Cabinet a proposal for “not insignificant grants” to be placed in the budget for the creation of club cricket.

For the beneficiaries of these grants, and those who reach international standard, he cautioned them not to kick down the ladder while they are at the top.

“When you are earning your tens of thousands of pounds, put two percent back in the foundation.