Theft Rampant in W.I Cricket

When Australian journalist Trevor Marshallsea reported on the theft of valuable cricket equipment at Trinidad's Piarco International Airport, the news sent a rippling undercurrent of fear throughout the region. The question arose as to how much damage it would inflict on West Indies' attempt to host a successful 2007 World Cup.

The most troubling issue of this report is that not only did the Australian team suffer losses twice on this tour in the same island, but CaribbeanCricket.com has learned that even the West Indies cricket team and the marketing arm of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have been victims of theft at locations throughout the region.

Sources say West Indies players have habitually had uniforms stolen when sent out to the cleaners. It has also been revealed that during the ODI series, two players reported theft of jewellery from their room at one of the team hotels.

Theft of player uniforms and other items is not confined to the hotels. It was reported that a box of player shirts also disappeared when in the care of the Jamaican customs authorities.

As if this were not enough, sources say that during the Indian tour of the West Indies in 2002, a West Indies player had a reported US$10,000 stolen from his kit bag while he was at practice in St Vincent. In this case, the Windward Islands cricket authorities were forced to make good the players' loss because the locker room attendants were hired by the Windward Islands Cricket Board.

The marketing arm of the WICB has also seen its share of losses with entire cartons of souvenir shirts disappearing into thin air. Most notably, a large quantity was pilfered during the first Test in Guyana and, last year, another significant quantity disappeared in St Vincent during the Indian tour.

All these incidents come on the heels of losses by other touring teams -- India and South Africa -- on previous home tours.

The WIBC has to sit up and take notice of this growing epidemic. Perhaps the time has come for the board to hire a reputable company, which is bonded and insured, to handle all aspects of home tours (from laundry to baggage handling) where theft could occur.

Turning a blind eye and issuing blank "regrets" are inexcusable.