The collateral damage in Windies cricket

From the sporting administration tasked with being the architects of the game. To the players on and off the field, expertly executing this vision. To fans, paying to view, and entitled to their opinion.

Quite often, West Indies cricket, internationally and regionally, has displayed a lack of said respect. And a lack of discipline, not to mention professionalism. With players and the administration at the forefront.

Several players have taken to social media to air grievances in the past -- Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Rayad Emrit and Denesh Ramdin, among the the usually vociferous Trini contingent.

Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy also have chimed in on quite a few occasions. Whether it be in a sarcastic tone or via emojis, the fact that there continues to be no social media policy or boundary within the framework of West Indies cricket says a lot. More so, Sammy’s rant which broke protocol after the 2016 World Twenty20 title, alongside Marlon Samuels’ behaviour in the post-match and the demeanour of Gayle towards women. The administrators will continously use their power to punish the indiscretions of regional players. But professionalism is not reflected solely by just the players.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Dave Cameron’s condescending retweet towards Gayle’s form in the 2015 World Cup can be viewed as an example of this. Another example, the back and forth with former coach, Phil Simmons, which transpired in his sacking. There seems to be no lid nor tact permeating in the system, as Michael Holding and the late Tony Cozier would have testified.

But as per the old adage mentioned above, how could a school ever be tasked to fall in line if the teachers and principals are runaway trains. Caribbean cricket appears intent on scapegoats and blame dispersed, as opposed to a party taking the high road. The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TT CB) ran into conflict with Emrit and Evin Lewis over contracts (a situation now fixed) in their stint in the last Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) which tailored off star players in the past opting out of the Red Force to play with their India Premier League (IPL) franchises. The exchange, coupled with the debacle in the 2016 Nagico Super 50 that saw Narine (non-squad member) prevented from accessing the team’s dressing room, all add up to show these discrepancies.

The entire e-mail gate surrounding allegations that cricket officials ridiculed Narine over his bowling action during a period of corrective action further compounds the issue at hand. TT CB members vehemently denied the validity of the scandal with many members refuting the credibility of the situation and even stating that they shied away from using emails. News purporting that Bravo’s tongue-lashing at the hands of Windies manager, Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner, was disseminated a la a press release from the same board affiliated with the player is another reason why every step forward seems to be three on the backfoot. Bravo’s comments on the Pakistan tour is a sample of players oversharing opinions where they aren’t necessarily needed. But administrators echo the same childish mentality that keeps Caribbean cricket in its fragile state and decline down the precipice. An eye for an eye seems to be the mentality.

When asked in casual conversation about the state of affairs with the TT CB and its players earlier this year in the Super50 tournament, a local cricket official said to the entire media box, “Why argue with dogs? You’ll only pick up fleas.” Which is exactly what leaves the region all the more blind in terms of how far we can see our cricket reaching. Indiscipline is rife.

Petulance is as well. And what really makes this mixture all the more poisonous is the double standard at play. Fans really need someone to take the high road. At present, the rashness and impulsive behaviour at hand, as seen with Sammy’s axing as well, is something that is too rampant in the region’s cricket to genuinely chart a path forward.

With the collateral damage being the same crowd that both players and admin insist don’t come out to view the cricket. Wonder why?