The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

To Each, his own

Fri, Apr 17, '15

by RAY FORD

Commentary

"Do you know who's that?" I asked 'the Great One', as I pulled from my wall, a 1970 schoolboy team photo. The occasion was back in 1981, when Sir. Vivian visited Mandeville in Manchester, Jamaica for an invitational cricket match. "Yes," said Viv with a chuckle. "That's Mikey."  
 
"Whom do you rate as the fastest?" I went on. "Mikey is kinda quick," reluctantly came the response. Viv, even with pads-off, is parsimonious in giving bowlers credit. Just in case, they meet again, and he's confronted with the same man, charging in with his tail up.    
 
Conversely, and in his book Whispering Death, Holding describes Richards, as "a batting genius, with three different strokes, for every ball".
 
These two gentlemen, obviously have, and enjoy, mutual respect. But on the matter of solving West Indies cricket problems, both are walking distinctly different paths. And it's not only because in their professional lives, they now have different roles.
 
Sir Vivian is more intimately involved in West Indies cricket, having last managed the West Indies A team to Sri Lanka. And today, he's taking great pride in having had a hand in the development of yesterday's West Indies batting hero - Jermaine Blackwood. "I definitely believe we have the kind of individual we are looking for in terms of someone who can hold down a spot in the middle order for West Indies where Test cricket is concerned," it was reported in today's (April 16th), Jamaica Gleaner, of Blackwood 'the king' was said to have said.  
 
Contrast this forward-thinking view, to the one by the former West Indies fast bowler, as reported in the April 6th issue of the Guyana Chronicle. "Against England, with so many players out of the team, they do not stand a ghost of a chance. That's the honest truth," was Holding's latest take.
 
And what of the West Indies cricket administration?
 
"There is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of camaraderie that breathes success," Sir Viv concedes. "But, there is a duty as players, in terms of what they are representing, the package of the region itself that comes into play, but I just believe at times, that has become pretty negative," the Master-Blaster lamented in the April 15th edition of The Trinidad Guardian.
 
On the other hand, like a rag in a dog's mouth, Holding is not letting up on his criticism of the West Indies Cricket Board. "The board is muddling from one fiasco to another, and now we have the Indian fiasco hanging over their heads," he reminded. This seems to suggest that in Holding's mind, it is the WICB which is solely, or preponderantly, to blame, for the US$42 million Sword of Damocles hanging over the WICB's heads. On that score, the jury is yet to retire.
 
"It's no surprise that the players have no respect for their employers, and as a result they are showing no commitment," was Holding's parting-shot, in the Guyana Chronicle report.        
 
But, where did I either read or hear somewhere in a World Cup post mortem, that, if some West Indies players are unhappy playing for the West Indies, that they should do themselves a favor, and seek or find, employment elsewhere?
 
Folks, I'm only a little-man. And lending support to one school of thought or the other, is above my pay-grade.
 
I can only comment on the ongoing written commentary, as it unfolds. As the wise saying in Jamaica goes, "Neva faas, inna big-people business". Let the two elephants rumble!