| Recently we have seen
what could cautiously be termed a resurgence in some
areas of West Indian cricket. Cricket lovers everywhere
fell in love with the boys from Trinidad in October
last year when they made it to the final with their
dashing style and powerhouse plays. More recently we
have seen young players from Nevis being picked for
the Under 19 West Indies team to play in New Zealand.
All this is good but it doesn't change the fact that
the question of where West Indies cricket is heading
is on everybody's mind in the English-speaking Caribbean.
In this part of the world more than anywhere else, cricket
is a part of our culture, and although we are too civilized
to punish our failed cricketers and murder our coaches,
we are deeply emotional about our cricket.
In the Caribbean,
cricket is woven into the fabric of our lives. What
started as a gentleman's game many years ago has filtered
into the grassroots culture and has become integrated
into our way of life. Our boys and girls engage in
it. Our older people sit and stand and witness it.
Our talented young men aspire to it and strive to
become skilled professionals. There is no family in
the Caribbean, from Jamaica to Guyana, which is not
affected by the game of cricket.
Caribbean people look
at cricket as the one remaining bond which keeps us
together. Although our islands share a common history
and sociology, the years of modern economics and the
assault of alien cultures have interfered with the
unity of the area and disturbed the flow of ideas
between our peoples. More than any other sport cricket
has been the tie that binds.
That is the reason
why we get emotionally involved with the selectors
when they pick a team to represent us. That is why
when our cricketers excel we identify with them and
raise them to be our heroes. And that is the reason
why when they fail we fell their same.
That is what made
us proud to host the World Cup and that is the why
when we decided to host the World Cup, it was not
a question of profit and loss but of Caribbean national
pride. It is because cricket is important to our system
that we are concerned with the way this great game
seems to be going to the dogs in the Caribbean.
What bothers us the
most is that there is an obvious pool of brilliant
talent available to the development of this great
game and yet the game seems to be plummeting into
an abyss of mediocrity and shame.
We appeal to Caribbean
leaders to rescue this game, and resurrect it to its
former glory. We do not know how this challenging
process will be undertaken. We are only ordinary people;
but as ordinary people, cricket means to us as much
as food, clothing and shelter.
It also means national
and cultural pride. May our cricket rise again.
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