Unlike Lara, Bradman was liked, respected and revered

THE EDITOR: West Indies test cricket is a microcosm of the region. As our cricket goes, so does our hope for nationalism and unity in the region with CSME as the ultimate casualty.

The booing of Brian Lara during the WI/Australia test match in Bourda, Guyana speaks volumes. Did anyone stop to ask if Donald Bradman in his heyday would have been booed in any part of Australia. Even if his choice as captain of the Australian cricket team was unpopular in any province in Australia? Don Bradman like Lara was the top batsman of his era. But unlike Lara, he was well liked, respected and revered by the Australians and cricket enthusiasts all over the world, even up to this day. Although his record, if not his stats, paled in comparison to that of Brian Lara, who broke the longstanding record held by the best all round cricketer to ever play the game, the illustrious Sir Garfield Sobers; which was enhanced considerably by the utterance of the best Pakistani bowler who remarked that Lara was the most difficult batsman to bowl to even including Tendulkar the top Indian batsman purported to be the best batsman in the world. These accolades were not enough to save Brian Lara from an unprecedented booing at Bourda, during the West Indies first test with Australia - because of the displacement of Hooper.

Two West Indies cricket greats, Sir Garfield Sobers and Everton Weekes blamed the failure in West Indies cricket today on the nonchalance of the players even though they are better paid, with enormous facilities and undeserving social status. Except for a few, who will remain nameless, the vast majority of the members of our WI cricket team continue to treat their primary job, which happens to be cricket, as a part-time job and as if that was not enough they show no love for, or interest in, the game of cricket. The spectators should not be left free from some degree of blame with their unmitigated preference for a “good lime” instead of being conscientious cheerleaders for their team.

After all is said and done the true villain can well be partiality to regional representation — Guyana is all for a Guyanese captain and the same can be said of Antigua and Jamaica.  The least nationalistic of all the islands when it comes to cricket is TT. We make a habit of nailing our best batsman to the cross if he “slips or slides”. I am referring to Brian Lara. We seem preoccupied with his penchant for having a good time around the carnival season and his choice of women (which is none of our business) than we are with his acumen as a top class batsman in the pantheon of cricket.

We in the region have more than our share of indifference and myopia to go around, which impacts most negatively on our international cricket in the region. There is no job-enrichment to entice our coaches or managers to hold on to their jobs and no potential for growth or improvement to attract quality coaches. It seems apparent that the lack of enthusiasm the players bring to the game is passed on to the spectators. Thus the reason for the potpourri in the sport, in the region, with our politics not far behind.

Bad habits are extremely difficult to break. I have set out to illustrate that our international cricket, like our politics, is formed and fashioned by identical social forces: During the period when Federation was the hue and cry of everyone in the region, Barbados and Jamaica got locked into a heated debate as to which island was most worthy of being the Federation headquarters. TT on the other hand was burdened with the financial responsibilities but not in the running as the site for the headquarters.

Consequently TT was forced to “cop-out” from the Federation fiasco, with Dr Eric Williams’ famous remark: “One from ten leaves nought.” The albatross remains around our necks, relentlessly, into the year 2003, in the form of CSME, in our politics and the lack of unanimity in WI international cricket with no resolve. In order to go forward and re-establish ourselves in international cricket as a force to reckon with as we had done in the past, we must all come together as one. With one purpose, to show the world that we can still be the best in the world in our national sport and favourite past time - cricket. We still have the potential; it is just up to us to believe that we still do.

ULRIC GUY
Point Fortin