8
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 1ST MARCH, 2015
UWI
TODAY
ON CRICKET
Facing a
Franchise Future
By Vaneisa Baksh
It is not simply a West Indian thing
to grieve for that
glorious epoch when our team strode like behemoths
through the cricket world, invoking awe, dread and
admiration. The entire cricket world has longed to
be mesmerized in that way again, and even though
other giants have had their time, the landscape was
already flattened when the West Indians were mortally
wounded.
So it has been hard for anyone commenting on the
game not to yearn for a return to theworld of the eighties;
it has been difficult not tomeasure contemporary players
against those dreadnoughts; but it is not fair.
That teamwas extraordinary, andWest Indies cricket
was phenomenal as a result. We have to accept what
a phenomenon is in terms of its rarity, and we have to
understand that the circumstances of yesteryear are so
far removed from today’s realities, that for many, they are
unimaginable.
Technology has compressed time, so that new things
gestate, emerge and evolve withinweeks or months, and
everywhere we are pressed to stay on top of newness –
whether it be gadgets and devices, fashion and food, or
lifestyle choices.
The world that has embraced T20 cricket has
opened up a frontier that now concerns itself primarily
with the material benefits to be derived from exploiting
commercial avenues.
The allure of playing franchise cricket in all its finery
has captured the imagination of a couple of generations
who cannot align themselves to the principle of nation
first, because despite all the years invested in building the
concept, the idea of a West Indian nation has practically
been annihilated. The post-Independence Caribbean
was quickly hijacked by leaders seeking individual glory,
who never demonstrated the wisdom of knowing that
the communal strength of a regional bloc would be far
more potent than impoverished states under the yokes
of haughty emperors.
How could a West Indian nation inspire fidelity and
pride then?
The world today is far more concerned with the
rights of the individual, that is true, but in other countries
there is still a visible patriotism even as debates about
national and franchise teams continue. How is the West
Indian player to identify with the call to national arms?
Increasingly, social media voices are saying it is better to
break up and go it alone as nations or franchises.
Franchise cricket is an attractive proposition for
players concerned with meeting the needs of their
families and enhancing their social status. Under the
armpits of an administrative board that has been more
engaged in adversarial behaviour towards them; has tried
tomake it the norm that contracts remain hanging in the
air, and reneged on several agreements; where should
their allegiance fall?
We can argue all we like that they must feel pride
in representing us, the West Indies people, but in all our
claims that West Indian cricket belongs to us, have we
done enough to put our money where our mouths are?
Have we represented ourselves as a West Indian people
worthy of support?
We’ve hollered for years about poor leadership
throughout the region, we’ve clamoured for changes in
constitutions, both national ones and theWICB’s, but we
have essentially been all noise and no action.
The WICB’s election is due on March 7, and from
within its own caverns, it has only been able to throw up
the names of Dave Cameron and Joel Garner. The Board
has boasted that it is accountable to no one, and we
foam at the mouth but let that status continue. Directors
should be ashamed as humans to allow the incumbent
to continue to show his face as the head of West Indies
cricket.
Richard Pybus presented his recommendations for
West Indies cricket a year ago at a projected cost of around
US$4.5 million. He was adamant that players should
accept the principle of “TeamWindies First.”We would all
like to see that, but we cannot ignore the reality of the
call of professional leagues and franchise teams.
When the IPL emerged, the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) did everything it could to stop
them, but had to capitulate because of its increasing
popularity.
TheWICB, facedwith theUS$42millioncompensation
bill that the BCCI is demanding, may find itself under
Cameron’s watch, finally choosing to end its sway over
West Indies cricket. Who knows if it may not find it
expedient to sell the entity known as theWest Indies team
as a franchise to the BCCI for that US$42 million?
Anything is possible, and if we don’t intervene more
forcefully, we might see the end of all thingsWest Indian
right here in our time. And the question of who owns
West Indies cricket will probably be a moot one, just like
the idea of a West Indian nation.
“The allure of playing
franchise cricket
in all its
finery has captured the imagination of a couple of
generations who cannot align themselves to the
principle of
nation first
, because despite all the years
invested in building the concept, the idea of a West
Indian nation has
practically been annihilated.”
