In Search of Transparency
Wed, Oct 26, '05
Ken Gordon, president of the West Indies Cricket Board, his CEO, Roger Brathwaite and Chris Dehring, managing director of the ICC 2007 World Cup Inc. were invited to meet the media at a press conference to discuss the state of West Indies cricket and the Board?s efforts to improve it.
The president repeated his board?s decision to be open in its dealings ? to the media and the people of the Caribbean. He acknowledged the board?s responsibility and accountability to the people of the Caribbean, for whom the Board acts as developers, directors and promoters of West Indies cricket.
He defended the WICB?s dealings with IMG, the company which negotiated the Digicel contract, the trigger of the conflict that saw the acrimonious battle between the WICB and WIPA, one which led to several of the region?s best players being left out of the team because of contractual conflict with the new sponsor.
That is still not resolved. It was the worst thing that could have happened to a team that was spiralling out of control to the lowest depths it had ever reached.
Gordon has recognised what his board considers the most immediate problems of West Indies cricket and has set out plans and time frames to deal with each of them.
Nobody denies that money is needed for the satisfactory running of West Indies cricket but money becomes a problem of dwindling importance, once cricket is being run in the manner it should.
He expressed the opinion that it was necessary for the various territories to do what is necessary to have their cricket up to the standard required and which had become the hallmark of the West Indies game.
The Australians recognised what the West Indies were doing right when they ruled the cricket world. A very sporting nation, the Australians, used sport scientists to set up the systems and structures that would bring about sustainable improvement in their game, just as they did in swimming, athletics and tennis, to name three disciplines that spring to mind immediately.
Since then, Australia not only became the first team since 1980 to defeat the West Indies in a series, and in the Caribbean at that, in 1995, they continued a long, record-breaking, winning run which was ended by England this year.
That might have been an aberration as, no sooner had they lost to England, they bounced back to defeat the Rest of the World in a three match ODI series and a six day Test in just three days and a session and a half against the best players in the world.
The West Indies now has two Australian coaches headed by Bennett King, assisted by computer analyst, trainer and physiotherapist. Surely it is not beyond them to recognise what the Aussies, the English, the Pakistanis, Indians and South Africans are doing right and incorporate what is needed by the West Indies players.
With such a staff and in view of the fact that the World Cup is just about 15 months away, should the priority not be to earmark about 25 players now and begin to prepare them for the World Cup?
Doing this while having to prepare the Test team is no small undertaking and money becomes a most important factor.
To do this at least 30 players will need to be contracted so that they can afford the time and be available to the Board for all the aspects of preparing a world championship team.
Money is the problem and while that is so, an American businessman has thrown US$28 million into a Twenty/20 competition that will serve no real purpose in the rehabilitation of West Indies cricket.
One wonders if he had had any discussion with the West Indies Cricket Board about the use of so potent a sum and, if so, the reason the WICB could have found for sanctioning so pointless a series.
Still, there must be some good that may come out of it as some of that money will be for the preparation of the teams. That would be the ideal time for the WICB coaches to recognise the players in line for the World Cup and the immediate Test commitments, for the computer analyst to identify, seek to correct the faults and emphasise the strong points of each of the players.
The time has come for all concerned to recognise that talent is just one of several factors that turn good players into champions and that the mentality and psychological toughness of the players are important components.
There is a strong case to be made for the employment from now for the duration of the World Cup, of a sport psychologist to add the finishing touch to the physical and tactical work that must be done.
* In association with Trinidad Guardian.