Don’t worry about a thing

Wed, May 11, '11

 

commentary by CHRISTINE CUMMINGS

Professor Hilary Beckles recently a delivered the annual Frank Worrell memorial Lecture – “Frank Worrell: The Rise & Fall of West Indies Cricket”. More than a few persons have asked for my reaction to his image of Chris Gayle as ‘the don’, and his unfortunate analogy with the use of the words ‘don, don-man-ship and the don who was extradited to the United States to stand trial for criminal wrongdoing, Christopher Dudus Coke. 

"…and what the West Indies Board is trying to do at the moment is to uproot this Don-man-ship out of the culture in much the same way as the Jamaican people are trying to uproot Dudus from their politics”.

As someone who has been honoured to deliver this lecture in the past, I think it is incumbent on me to make some general comments about Hilary’s very interesting lecture about the rise and fall of West Indies cricket.

Cricket scholars and academics generally agree on Worrell’s role in propelling West Indies cricket to the top and the way in which his cricket model has been practiced by several captains. Clearly there is room for debate on the model itself. That said, there are also several points raised in the lecture which overlap with my PhD thesis – “Cricket as an Element of the Superstructure” where I examine C.L.R. James' “new cricketing world”.

Hilary traced developments in West Indies cricket from the apprenticeship period to our achieving Test status and the exclusion of Headley on that first test tour in 1928 and identified the roles of Headley and Constantine in that drawn series in our first home series.

In developing his theme Hilary then discussed the rise of the three Ws and in particular the importance of Weekes becoming arguably the first person from our region to be the best at anything. There is no doubt that our beloved Everton was the best batsman at that time and there is also no doubt that his achievement provided much self esteem for Caribbean people, but clearly Hilary forgot one Arthur Wint who won gold at the 1948 London Olympics in the 400m in record breaking time (46.20) and won silver in the 800m.

The Windrush arrived in London in June 1948 with over 400 working class Jamaicans and the Olympics began on July 29th of the same year. If we are discussing self esteem make no mistake about what Wint’s world record victory did for those recent Jamaican and West Indian immigrants and for those they left behind in Jamaica and the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean. The pre-1950s self-esteem of Jamaicans wasn’t just about Garvey and Headley – it was also about Wint. And Jamaicans never looked back from that day.

I agree with Hilary about Worrell’s role in supporting the working class Sobers as captain over Conrad Hunte and it is true that Sobers’ team beat all comers, but in the same way the team rose with Sobers, it also fell with him and the years between 1968 and 1973, when Kanhai took over, were by no means successful.

In 1995, I wrote a four part series for  The Jamaica Herald on “The Crisis in West Indies Cricket” and I also had “Ideologies of West Indies Cricket” published in Malec’s book on The Social Role of Sport in the Caribbean. In both I compartmentalized three periods of West Indies cricket – colonial cricket, nationalist cricket and cricket as business – neo-liberal cricket.

If it is nation before citizen as Hilary suggests, then clearly he needed to mention Sobers’ cricket trip to Rhodesia including dinner with Ian Smith. After all, for playing in then Rhodesia, Sobers collected 600 pounds and had to apologize to the Government of Jamaica, Forbes Burnham in Guyana and Indira Gandhi in India. Further there is no way that the Packer series (which I fully supported)  escapes scrutiny. Our cricketers made economic decisions to play for Packer – there was nothing nationalist about that decision. They also demonstrated the meaning of team when the WICB attempted to divide and rule. Even Headley chose the Lancashire leagues over the disrespect meted out to him by the then WICBC.

Hilary also spoke about the commitment to the West Indian nation by Viv Richards and Michael Holding by refusing huge offers of rand to play on that rebel tour. We remain very proud of both of them, but Hilary failed to identify the real beneficiary of that Rebel Tour – someone who would actually be promoted within the WICB. Further the rebel tour was not about ‘nationalism’ – it was about apartheid and many cricketers of a variety of ethnicities abandoned their region and their skin colour for that money, including several Barbadians whose names Hilary apparently forgot.

In examining the fall of West Indies cricket Hilary mentioned the ten theories that inform the discussions on reasons for our horrendous crash as world beaters.

Hilary spoke at length about the structural adjustment model and how it affected the state, cricket and the mentality of Caribbean citizens. I do not know what former Prime Minister Michael Manley, Clive Lloyd and Hilary were discussing at Sabina in 1995, but both Manley and Beckles were aware of my scathing condemnation of these policies on Caribbean cricket.

The third theory Hilary mentioned was the popular culture associated with drugs and violence. Cricketers’ use of ganja across the globe is not new, but that does not prevent Hilary from giving military images to those who have long retired. Viv’s comments after the board president intervened and apologized for him walking into the press box to deal with Bobby Simpson were ignored because we were still winning.

Likewise, Hilary did not speak to the decline in manners , civilized behavior and the lack of sportsmanship in regional and international cricket which are certainly more relevant than any discussion about dons. He never referred to Winston Benjamin as a don, but it was his behavior in England in 1995 that led to Lara walking out. And of course there was no mention of players eating their KFC in the lobby of that hotel in England.

The foundation of the Worrell model was that selection was based on merit and not race and class privilege (or nepotism as is so obvious in the appointment of Darren Sammy) and yes disciplined young men and women are a necessary ingredient to reach the top. But let’s make it clear - Worrell, Sobers, Lloyd and Richards benefited from school, club and community cricket which was organized and promoted by all races and classes, most of whom were volunteers. Today we have candidates for national cricket board elections literally ‘fighting’ for power.

How Hilary believes that the latest U19 successful cricketers have reverted to the ‘nationalist model’ defies logic, because there is not one shred of empirical evidence to suggest that they won’t play cricket wherever they can earn a decent salary. Indeed it is self serving because my colleague and friend is the Principal of the Cave Hill Campus where the High Performance Centre is located.

Let me make it clear that I have long promoted cricket at the UWI – indeed we revived the Social Sciences versus the Rest of the University match at Mona back in 1989. I share the views of Worrell, Mills, Sherlock et al - that the UWI needs to play a role in the development not just the skills of cricket, but also the knowledge about its history, politics, social reality, economics , marketing and so on and we need to nurture commentators, statisticians, scorers, umpires, health care workers, coaches, etc.

Our youth are the victims of our policies. Every sphere of society has failed to empower them and the U19 players will be no different. They too will adjust their attitudes to survive in this decaying region. They are doing what every other professional is doing – looking for wealth and options outside of the region – and yes it is heartbreaking to nationalists like me.

Hilary’s images of West Indies cricket and our heroes are confusing because too much was left out. What is Headley’s image? Having called Chris Gayle the don, he then used the analogy of the WICB and the Jamaican government uprooting the don-man-ship of Christopher Dudus Coke.. This is not merely troubling, but it is highly offensive.

Chris Gayle does have an overrated sense of self given his Test batting average, but the truth is that in cricketing terms he has far exceeded most of our expectations. What he has is not merely presence, but significant support for standing up to the WICB bullies. Additionally people will pay money to watch him so clearly he is a product who should have been nurtured. Sure he has a tendency to ‘run his mouth’ but surely Hilary understands the individualist independent views of the Jamaican working class from the likes of Garvey. Let me add that I did not support his outburst in that Anna interview, but Hilary knows that in our institution we stick to pre-planned schedules and it is the least we can expect from the WICB.

Chris Gayle is no Dudus Coke and I expect better from my colleagues. I would never have appointed Gayle as captain, but the WICB and its supporters had all sorts of vibes, feelings, beliefs and senses mostly because they wanted to displace ‘the Prince’. I don’t know which cricketers Hilary is speaking with, but empirical evidence suggests that the vast majority of young cricketers want to ‘lick ball’ like Gayle. Young people will say anything to achieve their goals.

Hilary described the Worrell Model thus :-

• National representation – the Interest of the nation comes before interest of citizen
• Discipline of the youth is necessary for the liberation of the talent of the youth
• State has a role
• Values of cricket – gentleman and a develop oriented consciousness –principal arena for the up from poverty scenario
• These were the foundations of the Worrell model and this is what came crashing down in the 1990s.

Those are important elements of the model but the essence of the Worrell Model is that selection is based on merit and not race and class privilege or any other factor such as sharing the same nationality as the Board President and CEO. Worrell also believed in players’ rights. And fair play and sportsmanship were critical components of his model. Additionally Worrell supported regionalism and never uttered an insular word. Further Worrell recognized that the most talent must dwell within the largest group and their talent needed to be harnessed. Why else did he choose Boys Town over Kingston Cricket Club? Why else did he select Sobers over Conrad Hunte? Why are the Private Sector
and Civil Society left out of Hilary’s version of the Worrell model. Sugar supported cricket as did the merchant class, beer and rum producers. It is the tourism industry that has failed to invest in cricket while they benefit most from the cricket tourists who now come to watch us being whipped. Who remembers the 11,000 English folks who arrived at Kensington in 2004 as the WICB charged ridiculous prices and locals could not afford tickets.

I well remember that 1995 match against Australia – losing 2-1 hurt big time, but what hurt me even more was watching drunken Australians invade the field at the end while the DJ in the tourist promoted party stand aka ‘the mound’ played Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. Bob was certainly not viewed as a ‘gentleman’ by the West Indian establishment until Time Magazine acknowledged his greatness.

In my Sports, Politics and Society course, students discuss nationalism versus globalization at length. We do the same in Politics of the Caribbean. In a world where 14 of the 23 countries with the highest migration rates for tertiary trained students are Caribbean territories, that debate is over. Caribbean people have never been held back by borders and in these hard times only the cost of visas and rejection at embassies will limit migration. Our professionals in all fields will continue to ‘go and come’ at will.

So then what images do I come away with at the end of the lecture? Like the rest of us Hilary is in pain re West Indies cricket and sees the High Performance Centre (HPC) as the best solution to taking West Indies back to the top. He provides no evidence for this view and there is no evidence in West Indies cricket that the lettered will lead us to the top. After all he selected the two Grant brothers as evidence of privilege and wealth without statistical merit. Still, despite a clear bias in favour of Barbadian cricketers, I hope the HPC and the CCC team assist in rebuilding West Indies cricket.

On the other hand would Frank Worrell have supported several members of the University team
presenting themselves as scab players against Bangladesh, when arbitration after arbitration by several distinguished Caribbean citizens, including a former Chancellor of the University, ruled in favour of the players? Would Frank Worrell support UWI turning against workers’ rights? Would Frank Worrell support a captain who on merit would not make the West Indies squad? Would Frank Worrell be happy with the Principal of the Cave Hill campus using an analogy which not so subtly compares Chris Gayle with an alleged drug and gun runner. I think not.

At the end of the Manatt-Dudus Inquiry in Jamaica, we had to answer three questions – was it the government, was it the JLP or was it the Prime Minister who tried to prevent the extradition of Dudus Coke? Here I have to ask who is speaking here – the Principal of the Cave Hill Campus, the WICB Director or the Head of the High Performance Centre? One of the three needs to apologize and quickly.

The WICB and its directors have long demonstrated their conflicts of interest. On the other hand the Jamaican government will be held accountable either by the Commissioners or by the Jamaican electorate. The real question is when will Caribbean people find a way to make the WICB accountable for a series of atrocious decisions and comments not the least of which is this unfortunate analogy.

‘Don’t worry about a thing. Every little thing is gonna be alright’. I knew that was wrong in 1995 and even my friend Hilary’s spin on the Worrell model has no merit.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Bob Marley but we have long passed the stage of people singing along with the insensitive DJ in the mound as we lost the Frank Worrell trophy in 1995. Both Bob and Frank must be rolling in their graves.

* Christine Cummings is a dual citizen of Guyana and Jamaica and she does not recognize British titles.