Insularity in The Region
Mon, Jun 26, '06
When Brian Lara spoke at the post-match media conference after the first day of the Test against India in St Kitts, he was forced to defend the choice of Daren Ganga over Runako Morton.
The issue had been effectively countered by the captain when he cited the average of 42+ between Chris Gayle and Ganga as openers in relation to the average of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes of 47+. It was a powerful response.
'Twas not soothing enough, and he was bluntly asked if politics was the premise of the selection. I am citing his response from the CaribbeanCricket.com website:
"I don't play politics. If there's one thing I don't have, it's an insular bone. Also, we're playing two genuine openers. They came out of New Zealand batting really well. Chasing 298, they had a good partnership and came out really well.
"When the door's open for Runako Morton, the position was there because of credit. He will definitely get a run. I know Runako Morton, the guys love Runako Morton and he did well in New Zealand. He's still here and hereabouts.
"Daren is trying to repay the selectors or those who put him there. [He] played excellently. I had a chat with him this morning and he seemed to bat differently while playing as captain for T&T compared to playing for West Indies. People are always on his back. I suppose he's always playing for his position, while as captain he has that responsibility and he seems to shake everything else off and bats excellently.
Ganga duly completed his century the next morning, and at his turn at the Press table, he answered questions about pressure and form and the fight for his place. He was candid and talked about how difficult it has been for him to keep going under pressure. Still, it didn't stop the same questioner who found it fit to ask him: "Who is your godfather?"
It was a question designed to embarrass, and it did. It embarrassed the media. It annoyed the WICB's media liaison Imran Khan, and there was a heated exchange.
What escaped him as he ranted and raved loudly and interminably while others tried to work, is journalistic professionalism. Moreso, and this is a point that relates to any profession, there is no call to behave obnoxiously to anyone in the line of duty. No profession requires that of its practitioners.
These are lessons we ought to learn in the sanctity of our homes, and they are part of the codes of conduct that we accept to belong to a society.
For a man to enter a Press box where journalists are working to conduct all his conversations -? telephone and otherwise -? at the top of his voice is to disrespect the right of other journalists to carry out their duties in a professional environment.
We might ignore his boorishness, but the point that Ryan Naraine made is critical: there are manys like him in every territory. The insularity that has plagued the development of anything West Indian is a sorry facet of our existence.
As a journalist, one is always open to accusations of favouritism should one support a compatriot. I have never been able to look at country of birth as a tool for measuring performance standards. In that sense, I am more West Indian than I am citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. That is why, like Brian, I am impatient with people who bring their petty insularities to my table.
That's why I am happy Captain Lara hit him for six.
* This column is republished with permission from the NATION newspaper in Barbados where it first appeared.
