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West Indian cricketers flourish while administration languishes

While the Supreme Court continues to flay the BCCI and its associate members for dragging their feet on the Lodha Panel reforms, it has gone quiet on the Western front specifically the CARICOM coast.

It’s been a time of jubilation and turmoil for West Indian cricket.

The Calypso swingers under Darren Sammy uncorked an unprecedented second T20 World Cup win in astounding fashion with Carlos Brathwaite proving an unlikely hero. Their women’s team had the very same afternoon clinched their first ever World Cup in any form of the game.

Sammy , ever the team champion, utilized the occasion to roundly castigate the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) for its step-motherly treatment of the players.

He said:

“We started this journey … we all know we had … people were wondering whether we would play this tournament. We had a lot of issues, we felt disrespected by our board, Mark Nicholas described our team as a team with no brains. All these things before the tournament just brought this team together.”

The WICB President David Cameron was quick to respond.

In a statement purportedly praising the World T20 organisers India and Bangladesh, Cameron said:

“The President would like to however apologise for what could be deemed inappropriate comments made by the West Indies’ male captain, Darren Sammy, in a post-match interview and would like to apologise on behalf of the WICB to the millions of fans who witnessed. The President has pledged to enquire the reason and will have the matter addressed.”

He had earlier tweeted:

The ICC would later join the WICB in reprimanding Darren Sammy and his teammates for their comments that were “”inappropriate, disrespectful and [bringing] the event into disrepute.”

The ICC press release read:

“The board considered the behaviour of some of the West Indies players in the immediate aftermath of the final, and unanimously agreed that certain comments and actions were inappropriate, disrespectful and brought the event into disrepute.

This was not acceptable conduct at ICC events played out on a world stage in front of millions of people around the globe.

The board acknowledged an apology by the WICB but was disappointed to note that such behaviour had detracted from the success of what was otherwise a magnificent tournament and final.”

The gloss of the glorious treble of the U-19 World Cup, Women and Men’s T20 triumphs was wearing off quickly.

It wasn’t all rocky ground for West Indian cricket.

The newly minted BCCI and ICC head Shashank Manohar has been in an expansive mood notwithstanding the BCCI’s travails in the Supreme Court.

The Vidarbha lawyer first stated that he’s not in agreement with the ICC revenue-sharing formula wherein the Big Three—India, England and Australia—share the spoils and the leftovers distributed among the rest of the members.

Then the BCCI announced that bilateral ties between India and the West Indies would resume later this year. The cash-rich Indian body waived a $42 million damages claim against the abandoned 2014 tour. The West Indian cricketers flew home after the WIPA and WICB failed to resolve a long-standing pay dispute.

Late last year, the CARICOM cricket review panel suggested an immediate dissolution of the WICB. The panel was constituted by the Prime Ministerial Committee on the Governance of West Indies Cricket as a response to the crisis created by the damages slapped  on the WICB following the pull-out from the India tour.

The panel recommended formation of an interim board to install a fresh governance framework with the assistance of a change management expert.

The WICB rejected the report and its findings unilaterally claiming that none of the members of the board were consulted by the panel members.

Legends of the game were not so forgiving. Coming together under the banner Cricket Legends, Garry Sobers, Viv Richards, Wes Hall,  Andy Roberts and others met with Grenada premier Keith Mitchell, chairman of the Prime Ministerial Committee on the Governance of West Indies Cricket and sought the WICB’s termination.

That’s how the matter rests for now.

The following column will pore over specific recommendations from the panel and the WICB’s reasons for rejecting their proposals.

Dwayne Bravo: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Dwayne Bravo states his case to the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).

What he said:

“We believe we are being hoodwinked and are being treated like little school boys, yet we are being asked perform and play against professionals.”

Current Windies team skipper, Dwayne Bravo, makes no bones about his displeasure with the new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) whereby Test/ODI/T20 fees have reduced by 75%.

The West Indians are in India to take part in a five match ODI series. The players are considering striking in protest against the agreement signed by WIPA President Wavell Hinds with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) without player inputs.

In a letter addressed to Hinds on his squad’s behalf, Bravo outlined the disputed items as follows:

“

1) Our Test/ODI/T20 fees have been decreased by 75%.
2) No compensation for the use of our rights. That has been decreased by 100%.
3) Our ICC fees have been decreased by close to 100%.

“

He further requested Hinds to question the WICB on the following points:

“

1) Have the WICB Board members and staff taken a pay cut as we are being asked to do or at all. Our information is that staff have been increased both in numbers and their salaries.
2) Have the WICB declared their million dollar television deal
3) Have the WICB declared how much they are being paid extra for the matches outside of the FTP like this India tour.
4) Have the WICB declared what they are getting from the sale of CPL to Digicel our most lucrative tournament.
5) Have the WICB declared what they are getting from Digicel as the team sponsor.
6) Have they declared their financial arrangements with Governments for the international and regional home series.

“

What Dwayne Bravo really meant:

“The players draw in the crowds and the WICB profits from their efforts. Why are we being treated like errant schoolboys without any say or input into how West Indian cricket is  to be run or administered? Are we clueless or numbskulls or simply freaks who entertain?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Let’s discuss this over drinks during the first ODI at Kochi on the 8th.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Protector of the “endangered” (Satire)

In breaking news, it is learnt that India’s cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was approached—jointly—by the West Indian Players Association (WIPA) and the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) to become the brand ambassador of Caribbean cricket.

The  bodies-at-loggerheads—through Dhoni—seek to drive home the message that West Indian cricket is under threat of slow extinction and needs revival to  promote continuation of a joyous, carefree brand of island cricket.

Continue reading →

Cricket Diary : Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Hashan Tillakaratne and ‘Dada’ Saurav Ganguly

2nd May, 2011

Shivnarine Chanderpaul continues to raise a ruckus about his axing from the West Indian side.

In a second letter to West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Ernest Hilaire, the batsman questions his dropping for the Pakistan tour of West Indies.

Hilaire had squarely blamed the West Indies Player Association (WIPA) for Chanderpaul’s outburst in his response to his earlier missive.

The Guyanese was quick to respond saying:

“I may not be Dr. Chanderpaul, but I have been a top-ranked international batsman and we have to be able to think critically under the most intense and stressful situations.

It is therefore distressing that you blame WIPA by implication, if not overtly, for my letter saying that WIPA was offering me "ill advice". You may not be aware but I have faced the best bowlers in the world in my career and I know how to counter-attack. Furthermore, I am my own man and would ask that you respect that!"

The West Indian bat raised issues on the mishandling of injuries by the administrative body.

Coming on the back of a controversial decision by Chris Gayle to play the IPL rather than represent the band of nations that is the West Indies, the episode paints a sorry picture of the state of Caribbean  cricket.

Chanderpaul may no longer  be a sprightly young man but he should be allowed to decided when to quit the game.

Chanderpaul rarely courted scandal in his distinguished career but the lackadaisical attitude of the powers-that-be raised his hackles.

This man will not go quietly into the night.