Vision of division We are not alone in suffering for a lack of visionary leader

Vision of division

We are not alone in suffering for a lack of visionary leadership.

Donald Trump's successes - so far - in the race for the Republican nomination, as the countdown continues to November's presidential election in the United States, reinforces the crippling reality that appealing to base sentiments and primal fears is a strategy that will almost always attract a significant enough segment of the population so as to force these narrow perspectives into a national conversation.

In our regional cricketing context, those self-centred sentiments continue to be manifest in the form of a knee-jerk insularity: seeing almost every issue related to the game in the West Indies through the lens of territorial loyalty first, second and third before even venturing to consider any other option, like merit of an argument.

Which is why it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to see the game in the Caribbean being elevated closer to a meritocracy at the administrative level. Parochialism and cronyism there, just as in our politics, trump impartiality virtually every time. In fact, it is no less than what the majority of peoples of the different territories expect.


Had he lived to be in his nineties instead of succumbing to leukaemia at the age of 42 in 1967, Sir Frank Worrell, assuming him to be in possession of all his faculties, would have probably despaired of us making any progress in the nearly 50 years since he rubbished the triumphalism of his native Barbados at a time when their players dominated the composition of what was then the unofficial world champion West Indies side.

Then, he faced strident condemnation for daring to criticise the staging of a Barbados versus Rest of the World fixture in March of 1967 as part of the island's celebration of independence which had been achieved less than four months earlier. A committed integrationist, he saw such an event as a divisive exercise, given that a strong West Indies team was such a force for regional unity.

Two days after that four-day fixture ended in a comprehensive 262-run defeat for the home side, Worrell was dead. Were he still alive today, though, his reaction might have been pretty much the same to the boasting of Conde Riley, the Barbados Cricket Association official and West Indies Cricket Board representative, on commentator Andrew Mason's radio show last Tuesday evening about the number of Barbadians on regional teams and the expectation that many more would be donning the Caribbean colours soon.

Riley is no different

But Riley is no different from other administrators up and down the chain of territories who have played to local sentiment to further their own cause, whatever that cause may be.

When the Caribbean T20 tournament was scrapped after the 2013 event and replaced by the franchise-based Caribbean Premier League later that same year, the outrage was almost universal - or at least it was presented that way by the media - among the general public in interpreting the change of format as a clear strategy to end the domination of Trinidad and Tobago (they had just completed a hat-trick of titles) by the representatives of other territories who were envious of the twin-island nation's success in the shortest format, that included reaching the final of the inaugural Indian Champions League in 2009.

Backed by a sports minister who clearly should have been spending more time attending to matters of transparency and accountability within his governmental portfolio, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board questioned the name of the country being attached to the "Red Steel" franchise - which could not be, by virtue of the non-Trinidadians in the team, a "national" side.

Yet the TTCB president featured at the post-match presentation ceremony for at least one of the matches played by the "Red Steel" at the Queen's Park Oval in 2014. More importantly, Trinis have packed the Oval for virtually every CPL fixture there since the inauguration of the competition, their sense of hurt (even moreso now surely as the "Red Steel" are now the "Trinbago Knight Riders") not-withstanding.

It is impossible to buy a doubles on a Sunday morning for the past two months without the inevitable question: "Tickets on sale yet for the CPL matches this year?"

There is nothing like success to deflect criticism, whether legitimate or baseless, and in the same way that the growth and popularity of the CPL has rendered all that 2013 angst to the dustbin of history, West Indies cricket's triple triumph over the past couple of months has given the WICB some breathing space.

History will also determine, hopefully when some of us are still around, if the advocacy of some political leaders and prominent former players for a fundamental restructuring of the Board, along with those rebutting their claims of mismanagement, are selfless and sincere or a regurgitation of petty partisan priorities.

hahaha....Soca wrote that ??

She still has not learned after bawling for her posts to be removed from this Forum !


She decries Insularity BUT bigging up TnT Championship appearance where they

were murdered by a likkel Yorkshire County !


She harping on CPL and "Trini" name changes BUT ignored PCL

where the same Barbados has Raymon Reifer as a Guyanese

and WIN both the 4 day and ODI Championships.


She mentions nothing of the U 19 Captain with vision Leadership 

ditto the Ladies ...


Throw this article in the Trini Comess dustbin  .

(even moreso now surely as the "Red Steel" are now the "Trinbago Knight Riders")

Soca, please recommend : Trini-Bagonia Doubles  XI

You are so delusional or mentally incapasitated  that you still think that anyone here don't know that Soca fighter and Chin  are one the same . 

Chin , provide a Link and lets see IF

this is the same day as Vaneisa Baksh article .

you are asking Chin to provide source information?  How dare you!!  Chin doan have to provide no source info!!  plagiarism is a norm for the Chinster! 

"Barbados at a time when their players dominated the composition of what was then

the unofficial world champion West Indies side "


Soca, last time I told you to fact check instead of posting shyte !

Mail posted 4 players in the Guyana CPL : that do NOT exist on their roster.


SO , please check and see that Guyana had 6 and 7 of the XI :

MORE than Barbados could ever dream.....


you may fact check with Mapoui as well ....

Lemme help this woman with some ScoreCards from the Archives.

I just got the information from Cricinfo.

www.espncricinfo.com/caribbean-premier-l...nt/squad/881677.html

Maybe that is old.

www.espncricinfo.com/caribbean-premier-l...nt/squad/971795.html

....2015 as part of your Link is a dead give away