Fresh faces, strife and small crowds
By RENALDO MATADEEN Tuesday, January 26 2016
The titleholder remained the same but the 2016 NAGICO Super50 provided much to discuss off the field of play than on. 2015 saw an average run-rate of 4.27 per innings batted which catapulted the West Indies into a World Cup campaign in March 2015, where an average innings run-rate of 6.07 was not enough to drive them past the Kiwis. This year, the regional One-Day runrate lies at 4.39 — a tad ominous given June will see a tri-series against Australia and South Africa — only to be masked by the focus on the upcoming World T20 in March. That said, once more the regional front provides us with quite a few glaring issues on appraisal.
A major factor plaguing Windies cricket is the indiscipline and friction rife between players and administration. As seen with players’ digital disposition on Twitter, clearly they aren’t taking lead from the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson as young captains of industry, who do their talking on the field. Recalling moments of the “Yea Viv, Talk Nah†incident, so many West Indian players voice (at times unnecessarily) grouses against the board with administrators (as per the Chris Gayle/Dave Cameron World Cup retweet) also following the same ill-advised action, it’s left to be asked — does anyone respect social media policies? Little to no decorum has been shown in recent times which illustrates that maybe these stakeholders of West Indian cricket need more than just a filter. How ironic it is that cricketers playing in T20 leagues abroad, who’ve rejected the region (and by extension, Caribbean fans) want to have their say via Twitter on domestic issues. How ironic it is that the upper hierarchy still fails in their communication process to cricketers in a setting where there is clearly a lack of media/PR training — as seen with Chris Gayle’s antics in Australia. This corrosive atmosphere is best summed up by an interaction in the Oval media box with a major cricket administrator stating on players vs board issues — “Why argue with dogs? You’ll only pick up fleas.†It compounds how every step that regional cricket takes forward, there’ll always be an antagonistic dynamic taking it four steps back to the boundary - a boundary that clearly few respect, leaving fans short of a spectacle.
Another question to ask is how alarming is it that a Red Force squad of replacement players seemed to best the region once more? Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul and Kevon Cooper were among the missing names. With Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo continuing T20 dominance globally, and a lack of West Indian international flavour in the tournament bar the few faces returning from Down Under, WICB CEO, Micheal Muirhead, expressed confidence that the likes of NAGICO and ESP N would continue to buy-in to Windies cricket.
He also vouched for the selection process that players in this tournament would be first preference.
Jason Holder, as resilient and full of conviction as he’s been leading the Windies, his inspiration waned for Barbados and he looked tired at tournament’s end, with him expressing mental fatigue. Burnout? Perhaps, a rest is in order. One who clearly needs to keep going though is Darren Bravo whose rousing performance definitely mitigates the retirement of Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
A distinct lack of crowds with the semis and finals gathering 3,000 each day at best may cause concern. The West Indies U19s, currently warming up for World Cup duty, were sorely missed as the ICC Americas offered few glimpses of competition. Maybe the likes of Ireland, Holland, Afghanistan or Zimbabwe should be invited.
While doubling up on fixtures, the NAGICO Super50 ran on a faint pulse, which relied on the new faces emerging, mostly on the hosts’ side of things. There seems to be some depth in the region on the surface but would selectors be bold enough to give them that baptism of fire come June?
