Franchise cricket fall-out

IT is with some disappointment that I read that Steve Waugh, former Australian batsman, superb player and ex-captain, had taken a turn behind the West Indies selectors for the team chosen to tour Australia in a two-Test series on January 17 and 25.

He found the team exceedingly weak and way below an acceptable standard to challenge the top Test team in the world. He called on the International Cricket Council to step in and do something about this type of selection protocol, which would allow for a massacre of the visitors by the almighty Aussies.

His report did not mask the insults or the disgust he felt when he first came upon the group, containing seven uncapped players, young and inexperienced, whom he expects to be completely annihilated by the might of his Australian cricketers.

I believe Waugh should keep his thoughts to himself and concentrate on his team. It is not respectful nor acceptable to destructively criticise any side selected that is not your own; especially one that has been invited to your shores to engage your team in a couple of Test matches. It is rude, unexpected and unpleasant to be that coarse to a bunch of young men embarking quite excitedly and from a once-powerful cricket region to engage your superior team.

Let me remind Steve Waugh of the 1978 WI cricket season. Australia were scheduled to visit the Caribbean to participate in a five-Test series. Lots of confusion took place before that tour. Kerry Packer, the Australian business magnate, had appeared on the cricket scene in Australia in 1977. His plan was to have his own tournament called World Series Cricket (WSC), with high fees offered to the cricketers he chose. He hired from overseas mostly West Indies players, who, as always, were considered the brightest and most exciting cricketers in the world. The Aussies had the majority, as all the games were to be played in Australia.

I won’t go into the entire story of Packer and how he changed the face of cricket worldwide by employing players at enormous fees. However, it was very much in the same vein as the modern Indian Premier League, though the financial rewards at the time, although attractive, were not as lucrative as the present-day IPL, those being different economic times.

The main attraction is still West Indian players, for the same reason: their flair and enthusiasm.

The WSC sides were made up of Australian, West Indian and Rest of the World teams and they were to take part in two competitions: the International Cup Series and the International Country Championship Cup. In all, six “Super-Tests” were going to be played, and a one-day series.

Because his TV channel was rejected by Cricket Australia, Packer had to find grounds on which to play. He used non-cricket grounds and built his own cricket wickets in greenhouses.

For the tour of the Caribbean, however, the Australians did not select any of their Packer players as they were all banned from representing Australia after moving to the Packer regime, except for Jeff Thomson, who refused the well-paid offer. The 41-year-old Bobby Simpson was resurrected to captain the team.

The WI were at full strength, as all their Packer players were available, much to the indignation of the Aussies. It was thought that the West Indies Cricket Board of Control (as it was known then) should have left out their Packer men, but no punishment was administered to them. The WI were at full strength, including their fast bowlers of world fame, like Andy Roberts, Colin Croft, Joel Garner, plus superlative batsmen in their skipper, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharran.

Nonetheless, there was no chastising the Aussies for the woefully weak team they chose to visit and play against the WI in the Caribbean. It would have been in bad taste to have done so, for whatever reason. There’s going to be a series and the visitors select their side, and it is no business of the host country’s cricket personnel to criticise the visitors’ selection with complaints to the ICC.

If West Indians want to give their views on the WI’s side, it’s their prerogative. Therefore, Jeff Dujon’s criticism is acceptable.

However, Waugh is not a part of WI’s landscape and doesn’t even know the young cricketers.

WI have lost their best players to worldwide franchise cricket. What would you have them do? Postpone the tour until their players are available?