The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
I am an optimist. I will admit that. So even when people from outside the region come in and criticize aspects of Caribbean life, I try to find something positive to counter the detractors, some argument to defend my people.
However, after my experience this morning in Barbados involving two Caribbean airlines, I'm not so sure how much more defending I can do, or am willing to do.
(Barbados Advocate)
Everybody does got them own favourite, whether it is a sports team, a player, a musical group, a singer or a food, we does got we own favourite.
For some people being a fan does reach such a stage that them does become fanatical, so that them does don?t want to hear nothing negative about their favourite. For instance I know that Michael Jackson got millions of fans worldwide, even here in Barbados. Them could tell you when he born, when he gine dead, how much awards he win and so on. Them got every poster he every made and every album too.
Should Brian Lara give up the captaincy? Is WIPA's newly discovered militancy good for West Indies cricket? Is the 'youth-at-all-costs' selection policy working? Is the WICB being properly managed? Can regional journalists avoid being insular?
In part two of Michelle McDonald's exclusive interview with Tony Cozier, the region's leading writer/broadcaster tackles those questions and calls for a wholesale rethink of the way cricket is managed in the Caribbean...
Many are talking around it. Crofty seems to want to apologize without saying it. And Holding? Well, true to form, he has changed his line somewhat. He is now stressing the need for fundamental changes in the structure of our cricket.
Let me start at the end in a sense. Let me say to those who see Lara's 400 not out as only an individual achievement, or even to the more far sighted who will admit that it lifted our spirits, but for only a short time: I agree without a shadow of a doubt it leaves untouched the real issues.
For our generation, Tony Cozier has been the 'keeper of the flame', the unmistakable voice of West Indies cricket. He wears his love for the game (and the West Indies team) proudly but won't hesitate to crack the whip when things are falling apart.
Having seen the best and the worst of West Indies cricket, Cozier is at his best talking about the glory days and equally passionate when discussing the low points. In this interview with CaribbeanCricket.com's Michelle McDonald, Cozier speaks candidly about the leadership of the WICB, the question of team discipline, the role of the manager and the relationship between Brian Lara and coach Gus Logie...