I was born in Guyana, the country which produced Clive Lloyd,
Rohan Kanhai, Lance Gibbs, Basil Butcher, Joe Solomon, Roy
Fredericks and others. Cricket is the lifeblood of the Caribbean,
and its greatest adhesive force. C.L.R. James, a renowned cricket
scholar, in his work "Cricket in West Indian Culture," at, p 119
aptly noted, "From its beginning to this day cricket in the West
Indies has expressed with astonishing fidelity the social relations
of the islands."
There is a feeling of unease within the ranks of the Royal
Barbados Police Force (RBPF) as the international cricket season
approaches. That's because several members are still awaiting
outstanding payment from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for
the 2001 season.
It is almost a year since the last international season ended and
still the more than 100 lawmen and women have not been paid.
Officers were originally expecting their money no later than six
months after the conclusion of the Barbados leg, but were told they
would get it at the end of February.
Guyanese fast bowlers Reon King and Colin Stuart, despite being
left-out of the 22-man training squad in an eight-day training camp
which ended yesterday at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, are
still eligible for selection on the West Indies team for the
opening Cable and Wiresless Test match at the Bourda Oval.
That's the word from captain Carl Hooper in a post-camp interview
at the offices of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of
Control.
Once upon a time cricket was clean - so clean that no one would
even think of dropping a catch wilfully.
Times have changed, however, corruption is everywhere, there is
enough evidence to suggest that as isolated as it may be, results
of cricket matches have been manipulated, and in its effort to do
something about it, the International Cricket Council's
anti-corruption unit has come up with a set of recommendations that
it believes will help in the over-all strategy against corruption
and match-fixing in the game.
Are we ready to host the International Cricket Council's World
Cup in 2007? With the current state of our grounds, lack of
infrastructure, among other things today, we are not...but we will
be, and we intend to make it the best World Cup ever.
That's because we are being systematic and deliberate in our
preparations to host this prestigious event, and have great
confidence in the ability of the Caribbean people to deliver.
