Hey Dr Hunte, look in the mirror
Wed, Jul 2, '08
by PETER MONTGOMERYThe popular rum shop trend of blaming the players for all of the problems of West Indies cricket continues but it has taken on a new form. Rather than it being old talk in neighbourhood rum shops it has now found itself on the lips of the very president of the West Indies Cricket Board Dr. Julian Hunte.
Dr Hunte openly issued a threat to West Indies senior team players for not producing the results he and all West Indians would like to see and notes that the players are the third best remunerated in the world. This in itself shows the backwardness and ineptitude which we have entrenched in the leadership of the WICB.
Cricket in the Caribbean is not an attractive career option for youths. The only miniscule attraction is playing for the West Indies. So first class cricketers are in effect a group of amateur hustlers who use the opportunity to see if they can have a good season or two to make it to the top. They are not dedicated professionals who are working day in, day out on their game.
Dr. Hunte forgets that while he is enjoying bountiful meals that the first class cricketers have mouths to feed and no steady income.
Let us take the cases of the two most recent West Indies selectees in Shawn Findlay and Nikita Miller. Since the end of the Carib Beer season what have they been up to? Training? Practicing? Is there a structure in Jamaica to take care of them and to ensure that when selected they are fit and ready and raring to go? We all know the answer. But when they turn out in Digicel maroon and swipe and get out or bowl poorly and get smashed we will all jump up and blame them or alternatively blame the selectors.
The rum shop debaters fail to realise that the selectors can only pick from those available to them and that the cricketers selected come into international cricket on a wing and a prayer rather than on the back of solid first class cricket and detailed preparation. How can we shamelessly blame players for not being world beaters when these same players have to sacrifice cricket practice and training in order to work at various jobs which offer them a chance to put food on the table?
When Dr. Hunte wakes up and realises that the reason for the players not being able to beat other international team is because the quality of the region's first class cricket is beyond poor, he would have joined the road development and progress.
For him to lump blame on the senior team when these very players do not possess the skills, attitude, professionalism and all other attributes which should have been inculcated in their time in junior and first class cricket shows a clear preference for deferring blame.
The management of West Indies cricket, which ultimately rests with Dr. Hunte is where the real problem is. The players are the end products of atrocious management at the WICB level. We have seen almost daily examples of the incompetence from officers of the board not being able to book flights for players to the poor organization of regional tournaments. Yet not a single officer of the WICB is held culpable or accountable for their rank incompetence.
By his latest public statement, all that Dr. Hunte is seeking to do is jump on the popular bandwagon of blaming the players and simultaneously preserve his tenure as WICB president and protect his incompetent officers.
The players ought to object to the president's outburst and demand action of him. Where are the plans for the competitive regional season? Where is the academy? Where are the plans for accountability from the West Indies Cricket Board officers? Should they not be paid on performance as well? When they foul up as they do on an almost daily basis should they not be reprimanded as well Dr. Hunte?
Dr. Hunte, previously thought to be an astute thinker, proves himself as nothing more than a political hack who does and says what he must when his back is against the wall and the heat is turned up.
Should the West Indies team be relegated to a second tier of international cricket it will not be for the failings of the players but the failings of the WICB, its board of directors and executives, those who are currently in position and those who occupied those seats previously.
Dr. Hunte must address the failings and incompetence of his own ranks before he turns to the players who are ultimately the end product of his WICB's shortcomings.