WI failure shows regional character

DR SELWYN Cudjoe, whose book Beyond Boundaries was recently launched in Port-of-Spain, reflects on the decline of West Indies cricket in an interview with Newsday’s writer, Carl Jacobs.

He believes that this failure reflects on the character of the nation and the region and points to ways in which we might think about these questions.  Dr Cudjoe, Professor of Literature at Wellesley College, Massachusettes, USA, believes that a knowledge of our history is vital for our present and our future. For example, he tells that one of the earliest descriptions of cricket being played in Trinidad was recorded in 1841. He observes that James Collens’ novel, Who Did It? published in 1891, is the first novel to begin with a cricket match set in the Queen’s Park Savannah which the author describes as “the envy of the whole West Indies and as smooth as a billiard table”.

Dr Cudjoe uses this knowledge of cricketing history in this interview.

QUESTION: How do you explain the decline of West Indies cricket over the last decade or so, after we had been such a dominant force among cricketing nations?
CUDJOE: One of the things that CLR James taught us in his book, Beyond a Boundary, is that sport is more than a game; it is a reflection of a society’s character. It is very clear that when we were aspiring to nationhood, we presented cricketers with the ferocity of a Gilchrist, the grace and elegance of a Frank Worrell and the savage beauty of an Everton Decourcy Weeks. Cricket was not just cricket; it embodied the aspirations of a people.

QUESTION: Yes, but has this not always been so?
CUDJOE: In 1900, when a West Indian team, touring England, defeated Surrey’s County team by an innings and 34 runs, the leading Editorial of the Trinidad and Tobago Mirror, asked: How are the mighty fallen? And the paper went on to say: “Before the cricketing world, a team of West Indians, some of them members of  the wolly-headed race, have overthrown the mighty Surrey team in open contest with leather and willow.” Even then, cricket was not just cricket, it was members of the woolly-headed race taking on  members of the Anglo Saxon race and proving their character through leather and willow.

QUESTION: So you are saying that since 1900, cricket has been the manifestation of a people’s character?
CUDJOE: The answer is yes. It even happened before then, but in those days when we had nothing more than our determination and self pride to take us through, we had to act at our best. Today, our major incentive and interest seem to be monetary as evinced  by the agitation of players for a bigger pay packet.

QUESTION: But surely as professionals they need to demand that  they be paid properly.
CUDJOE: That is true, but a professional by definition is self responsible; that is to say he must assume total responsibility for his performance. I am not too sure that each and every member of the WI team at this time does that, both in terms of his preparation for the game and his actual performance during the series. For example, once someone has been selected to play on the Australia team, he is required to read a history of Australian cricket.

QUESTION: What does the history of a game have to do with the actual performance in the field?
CUDJOE: My friend, a game is both psychological and physical. Both elements are necessary and important for the successful completion of the task. So that when one begins to prepare for a game it is vital for him to know the importance of the game to the nation’s psyche and the history of its people.

Therefore, when an Australian comes to play cricket he is mindful of the fact that he represents a nation, and that a nation’s image and destiny are in his hands. It is a job, not a momentary distraction. I am not sure that I can say the same thing for current West Indian players. They do not possess the noble  excitement of the players who defeated Surrey in 1900 or the determination of those teams of the 1930s who were out to make a name for themselves and their country when they played abroad or the fierce pride of the cricket warriors of the 1960 and 1970s.

QUESTION: What then does the performance of the teams of the recent past tell us about the character of our society?
CUDJOE: Well, in the first instance, there is not the pure joy that earlier players took in the game; nor the elan that players of another generation brought to the game. For example, when a Garfield Sobers walked out on the field, took his place in the slips, threw up his collar, you knew he was ready for business. You knew he was indomitable. You knew that he put himself in a position to maximise his efforts and thereby assure victory.

Today, we do not see the same sense of indomitable ferocity in our players. They go out in the field; they go through the actions, but they do not seem to have that determination to be victorious. They do not have the determination to be creative, to make whatever adjustments it takes to carry out their exercise to a  successful conclusion. In a minor chord, we see a similar thing in the Carifta Games. Trinidad and Tobago, well endowed, blessed with plenty money, but still they are overwhelmed by those who do not have the same degree of monetary incentives.

QUESTION: What kind of incentives would you like to see?
CUDJOE: In both the West Indian cricket team and the TT athletic squad I would like to see a greater amount of spiritual and mental incentive. In other words, there is need for greater mental toughness to achieve your goals both in the sporting life and the national life. That calls for discipline, digging in,  watching the ball unto the bat, exploiting every opportunity such as taking catches, and being determined that, come hell or high water, we shall prevail. Virtues such as watchfulness, dedication to cause, recognition of the collectivity and one’s responsibility to the whole are certainly important for the success of any social or sporting activity.

QUESTION: How can we inculcate such values in our players and members of our society?
CUDJOE: You would remember I noted that the first thing a player is required to do when he becomes a member of the Australian cricket team is that he is required to know the history of Australian cricket. In other words, he must know about the past to understand the demands of the present and the requirements of the future. That is how all learning takes place. By valuing what has gone before, one has a frame of reference, a digested guide, a tradition to build upon, so that one will know how to act when one is faced with challenges.
In our West Indian society, particularly in our TT society, we pay little respect to and for the past.

Therefore, the first requirement for success in the sporting arena or in national life is the necessity to know who we are, where we came from and where we want to go.
Such an attitude creates a mindset for success. Today we are much too distracted by nonsense. We must get back to a path of understanding what brought us here and what made us the people we are. According to Rudder and James, this thing called life and sports has gone beyond the boundary.