Vaneisa: How number 27 blew away West Indies cricket; the answer, my friend…

There didn’t seem to be much point in writing about the ignominious end to the Test series between West Indies and Australia.

Like rain flies swarming about after heavy showers, indignant cricket spectators have rained harshly abusive comments about the performances over the three matches.

There have been some useful analyses, as there always is, but the truth is that these conversations have been taking place for so many decades now that there is really nothing new to add.

Hell, it goes as far back as when West Indies cricket’s first revolutionary, Sir Learie Constantine, was clamouring for meritocracy to be the basis for selection, and that white skin should not be the criteria for leadership.

Numerous calls have come for mass resignations, including from West Indian legends. Former Captain Carl Hooper shared his feelings during the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s post-match coverage.

“It’s been so disappointing. I’m angry and upset because I think we were building a good thing a few years ago,” said Hooper, adding, “Somebody needs to be answerable. I think he (Sammy) is also the only selector. So, just imagine someone who’s picking the Australian team and is also the head coach.

“He’s got all the power, so he has to be held accountable. I know that’s not going to happen—they’re not going to remove him.”

Fast bowling great, Andy Roberts was no less emphatic: “The Director of Cricket should walk, the President should walk, the Coach should walk.”

Jeffery Dujon, the iconic wicket-keeper had a lot to say as well.

“I don’t believe that Daren Sammy—and I have nothing against him personally—is the man for the job,” said Dujon. “To be the coach of all three formats and what appears to be the only selector, that’s a lot for someone with a lack of experience to take on.

“I don’t think we’re going to go anywhere where that is concerned, and a lot has to change.”

There have been calls for restructuring (including from the preceding three legends)—even for the dissolution of the entity known as the West Indies team and for its components to go it alone as individual nations.

Players have been roasted and spat out; the selection process has been castigated, and credentials have been shredded. And of course, the accusations about insularity have arisen.

CWI President, Kishore Shallow, went so far as to say the omnipotent coach and selector, Daren Sammy, was being blamed because he is Saint Lucian. That fatuous remark also raised public ire.

“He must apologise,” said Andy Roberts. “Barbadians criticised Viv and Richie as captains, but no one claimed it was because they were Antiguans. Shallow’s words fuel division.”

The recurring issues keep coming back because nothing substantial has been done to address them as they continually rear their heads over time. In fact, despite the diversity of the points of view as to what ails West Indies cricket, two things have been consistent.

Significantly, there is unanimity that the root of the rot lies within the systemic flaws in the so-called structure of the administration. Supporters or spectators, however you might label them, know in their livid hearts that blaming any one aspect is only a way of venting frustration.

What exacerbates the anger is the knowledge that nothing is new, that they feel offended by what appears to be cosmetic solutions because the powers that be are not prepared to do the hard work for the long haul.

Just looking at the responses to Shallow’s comment that the team is in a rebuilding phase, one can see that this was a major trigger. The public’s question: How long are we supposed to be rebuilding?

Despite the rage roaring about in the air, CWI stands firmly in support of itself, assuring the public that it is taking remedial action.

Well, the first visible step tells us very plainly that it does not have a clue how to proceed. Shallow called on legends like Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Brian Lara to join its Cricket Strategy and Officiating Committee (chaired by Enoch Lewis) alongside its existing members, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Desmond Haynes and Ian Bradshaw to find a fix.

Under the circumstances, it is tantamount to the Board throwing its hands up in the air and appealing like children to their parents to help them out because they don’t know what to do.

If this isn’t a declaration that they consider themselves unfit for purpose, then what is it?

The invitees themselves have been fairly quiet, although Brian Lara very pointedly made the point a few days ago that CWI has not “done anything meaningful to keep players loyal to West Indies cricket, unlike what boards in countries like England, Australia, or even India have done.”

This was the conversation on the Stick to Cricket podcast hosted by former England players Phil Tuffnell, David Lloyd, Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook. He was referring to the abrupt retirement from international cricket of Nicholas Pooran, one of T20 cricket’s megastars.

“You have your aggressive players like Pooran, who retired at 29. And honestly, it’s pretty clear why they did. There are five or six leagues around the world, and they’re able to make a substantial amount of money playing in them.”

Within the inertia and lack of support lurks one of the several contradictions that plague this region at every turn. Dozens of committees have been convened, gazillions of reports have been written, numerous consultants have been consulted—what action has been taken?

The members of the proposed committee certainly have value to add. But you are dragging them into a situation that has played itself out over and over in the past.

At one time or another, the three latest invitees have given their service and counsel to administrators. What is the objective here? Have them invest their time, energy and their experience to a cause that will then be ignored?

Like every other citizen of this West Indies cricket nation, they must be hurt and humiliated by the abysmal extent of that unforgettable 27.

But here you are, inviting them in an admission that you are incapable, yet guffing up your chests to say you see no reason to step aside.

It comes down to acknowledging that the entire governance structure is a failed one, but has survived because its inhabitants are masters of the art of self-preservation.

While public rage is visceral and vicious, I feel sorry for the players themselves. What must they be feeling? What will be the impact on their careers?

Those who played in that final Test will be forever marked, but the reality is that the quality of the batting was no different in the previous matches.

Perhaps it was the milestone of 100 Tests that fired up Mitchell Starc in that final innings. Needing four wickets to get to 400, he took six wickets for nine runs in just 7.3 overs.

Scott Boland, a man who had a lot to prove for his Test career, took three wickets for two runs (a hat trick). Maybe the avalanche had a lot to do with what was going on in these two bowlers’ heads.

It was decidedly a series for bowlers.

During the games, it occurred to me that there should be some acknowledgement of the tremendous role that the WI bowling coach, Ravi Rampaul played in his unassuming way.

There is much to feel good about in the reappearance of a formidable bowling team that is effective and focused. Perhaps it would be helpful to examine how they have been preparing themselves under Rampaul’s guidance.

There is no simple solution, but posturing will not bring us any kind of relief.

It is quite telling that in the midst of this calamitous juncture in West Indies cricket, the president of CWI, Kishore Shallow has taken up cudgels with the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonzalves, where both men are facing off each other in upcoming general elections.

Shallow, curiously enough, is the New Democratic Party candidate for North Leeward, while the incumbent, Gonzalves, has once been chair of Caricom’s Cricket Committee.

What is the tussle that has preoccupied him?

Shallow referred to the Saint Vincent Emancipation Cricket Festival (scheduled for 31 July to 4 August) as a “big circus” and claimed that it is a copy of his
Vincy Premier League (VPL).

The argument is whether it has the permission of the Caribbean Premier League, which according to Gonzalves, it does.

Unsurprisingly, on 16 July, Gonzalves had this to say: “Given the terrible performance of Cricket West Indies over the whole period, I have to join with other leaders and other informed persons across the region to call for the resignation of the entire board of West Indies Cricket.”

Amidst this bleak state of affairs, the region faces another loss. The cable TV channel, SportsMax, is to shut down its operations on 8 August.

The relatively new CEO of CWI, Chris Dehring, founded the Caribbean sports broadcasting unit 23 years ago, bringing a new type of coverage to regional sports.

The entity had been acquired by Digicel, the telecommunications company, in 2014. It is a considerable loss, one that Dehring described stoically.

“Everything has its time,” he said. And one wonders, is it now that time for West Indies cricket?