The Slicing of a Pound of Flesh

Collectively and unwittingly, we as a Caribbean people have been brought into the crucible of a fiery imbroglio. And sadly, our very essence is at stake.

It is sad because in the first place, we should not be here. We should not be here as a regional people. Indeed, the WICB and the WIPA should not be here either. Perhaps just as unwittingly, they have been pitted against one another in an apparent battle to the death.

I say death because it is clear that neither side is interested in taking any prisoners. Yet, underneath the ancient grievances that are not uncommon in a marriage of putative Professional Sportsmen and their Employer, a new and powerful issue has been introduced: other peoples? money.

While we have previously been privy to some of the points of disagreement between the parties, we have never been privy to anxieties about earnings, both the level, and the timeliness. C&W?s deliberate targeting of certain key Players has introduced this issue in a most disastrous manner.

Perhaps the WICB has exercised its strength too roughly in the past. Now that it is no longer the sole writer of the cheque directly to the players, its strength has been diminished. It has not helped that the region?s talent pool has been presented with greater diversity in choice, which makes a young promising cricketer almost certain to remain in the Squad once picked. And so the players find themselves in a position of bargaining that would not have been expected.

What is disastrous is the fact that the sums of money being paid to the players is in fact not driven by market prices, and so is deliriously lucrative. What is sad is that such delirium has been induced by a Company that should understand, after decades of involvement, the irreparable damage its ?generosity? can cause.

In fact only the na?ve or uninformed among us would not believe that such generosity is a weapon of the marketing war between the Region?s dominant telecoms giants. I would suggest that it was meant to be a weapon of mass destruction.

But like its nuclear counterparts, such a weapon has no means of being precise. Once launched, one can only speculate as to the levels of casualties it may take. I have to agree with Tony Cozier that we are as close to oblivion as our Sport has ever been.

So devastating is the weapon that Prime Minister Mitchell has tried, so far without success, to defuse it. Yet it speaks of our failure as societies that this matter has not yet been resolved. Our Leaders, sport and commercial, should have been mature enough to bring this to conclusion with enough time left to allow our shiny new Coach to do his job in the Camp. As it is, he will have to draw up a number of plans and approaches with the different potential players that may be available. How inefficient and unpalatable. And he should be warned that it is his head that will be on the block when the team fails to perform.

So how do we solve the problem? Had we been the shareholders of a Publicly listed Regional conglomerate, we would have already requested an Emergency General meeting, received a full report from the Board and voted on a number of resolutions all meant to resolve the matter.

Until there is a more democratic method of offering such solutions, I wish to suggest the following:

1. A number of the leading companies in the region should offer to buy the balance of the duration of each of the 7 players? contract with C&W out ? perhaps Demerara distilleries could hire Sarwan, Jamaica Broilers for Gayle, Banks for Edwards, etc.;

2. The Parties could then examine their legal options and pursue breaches/passing off issues through the Legal System;

3. WIPA should undertake, with the good faith of the WICB, to enter into retainer contracts within 21 days, hopefully to have members execute very early in the Home Series;

4. Digicel would publicly explain the benefits/incentives in their Sponsorship Agreement, as well as the fees for media appearances and the like;

5. Any Players not willing to switch their personal sponsorship to allow the compromise to proceed would understand the strict limits of what they can do in the context of the obvious conflict between the main sponsor of the Team and the Sport, and the other;

6. C&W would accept the compromise in good faith and in recognition of the reciprocal and likely stronger rights it will enjoy for the World Cup in 2007, and such as it enjoyed over the course of its previous Team sponsorship.

I really hope someone or group of persons will come forward and at least agree to a parallel sponsorship for the players so that there is a basis for such compromise to speedily occur. We have wasted too much productive time and precious emotion on this fundamental issue. We have to respect the Rule of Law, as well as norms of society and interaction. As a society, we have not exhibited a capacity to deal with issues that may be multiple and varied come 2006 leading into 2007.

We have to grow up, and demonstrate mature leadership that our young cricketers can follow.

* Roderick Gordon is an Attorney-at-Law and a Director of the Jamaica Cricket Association, and Kinetic Sport Management Ltd.