Dear Editor: West Indies Cricket is dead—even with Shai in squad, this is Hopeless

“[…] Being humiliated is nothing new to West Indians born mid-1980s and later. But this 27 all out feels different—this feels irreparable.

“In the past, every time we hit a new low, we always had a couple of players in the team that we knew, in the back of our heads, we could rely on to take us out of the rot.

“[…] From Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Jermaine Lawson, Sunil Narine, etc.

“Today it feels different. Even with Shai Hope in the Test team, this feels hopeless…”

The following Letter to the Editor on the state of West Indies cricket was submitted to Wired868 by Choy Aping of Trinidad:

‘27’ is one of the most significant numbers in West Indies Cricket history—it signals the end of WI Cricket.

Some would say we have been here before, on which I totally disagree! Now don’t get me wrong, West Indies has been humiliated much in the past 30 years.

I’ll go as far back as losing to a Kenya side with one professional cricketer, in Steve Tikolo, and 10 amateurs at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, and many instances thereafter.

Being humiliated is nothing new to West Indians born mid-1980s and later. But this 27 all out feels different—this feels irreparable.

In the past, every time we hit a new low, we always had a couple of players in the team that we knew, in the back of our heads, we could rely on to take us out of the rot.

There were always players in the team we could have hope in. From Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Jermaine Lawson, Sunil Narine, etc.

Today it feels different. Even with Shai Hope in the Test team, this feels hopeless.

It is a culmination of things that brings us to this point: a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB/ CWI) board and players who are more self-serving than anything; an International Cricket Council that has zero interest in equitably sharing the revenue to help address the structural issues that cripples the low-income earners in the game.

The ICC sticks with a model where three teams—India, Australia, and England (Big Three)—are earning close to 52% of the overall revenue, while all other international, associate, and affiliated teams are made to share the remaining 48%.

We are faced with a situation where two of our best young talents don’t even care if Sunday falls on a Monday in West Indies Cricket.

Nicholas Pooran retired, for whatever reason, in the prime of his career, whole Shimron Hetmyer shows little desire to don the maroon and whites.

Our regional cricket structure, with every passing year, produces fewer and fewer capable cricketers to compete with the top brasses of the game—to the point where we are now 27 all out in a Test innings, and here we are looking right, left, up, and down for a saviour, with nothing in sight.

Even our insular fanbase is too ashamed to suggest a player from their country who can help address our batting woes.

Insularity itself has played a major role in reaching us at this juncture, so I will avoid going abroad with my criticism—I’ll start at home.

Trinidad and Tobago have not won the Regional first-class tournament since the 2005/06 season, almost 20 years ago. Yet Mr Azim Bassarath has held control of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board since 2009 to date, with little desire to relinquish that power—operating under an archaic, outgoing vote constitution that renders it almost impossible to remove him from the position.

In my opinion, Mr Bassarath and the TTCB basically summarise our territorial boards, CWI, and the self-serving directors that have control of WI Cricket.

Mr Bassarath’s 16 years of failure have not prompted him to change the constitution to give someone else a fair chance at replacing him, or allow someone with new ideas a chance to implement changes in Trinidad and Tobago Cricket.

So how can Mr Bassarath, or any of the directors on our different territorial boards who presided over these shambles and embarrassment we call West Indies Cricket today, watch me with a straight face and tell me they care about WI Cricket or have a plan to move WI Cricket forward?

For Christ’s sake, some of those guys have been involved for over 25 years. What can they bring to the table today that they haven’t tried and failed with over the past 25 years?!

We have Kishore Nalin Shallow (CWI President), Daren Sammy (coach and only selector), Floyd Reifer (batting coach), Roston Chase (Test captain) presiding over the unfathomable 27 all out versus Australia. And here we are almost 48 hours later, not a single resignation to even try and save face.

We look at Guyana, who win the Regional 4-day competition even on their off days. They won the competition five consecutive times, yet can’t produce an international batsman of any reputation in Test cricket.

What are we really judging success on? What are really the standards we’re aspiring to? Are there not honourable men in WI Cricket anymore?

From where I sit, I see no way this situation improves. Hence, this is the beginning of the end of West Indies Cricket.

RIP to the few good memories I have of WI Cricket.

WI Cricket is one of the few things I genuinely love in life, and here I am at a point when it distresses me to the point that I refuse to turn on the television most of the time to watch it, to avoid the stress it usually causes.

Is there any HOPE for West Indies Cricket other than Shai?

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