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I left Jamaica at a young age(20+ years ago) and finding this site shortly after was a godsend as it allowed me to stay somewhat connected to cricket and my roots. Now, I was never a regular or popular poster, but I always enjoyed reading and interacting with folks here. At first, I enjoyed the interisland banter and rivalries, but over time I realized it had more sinister undertones and was actually hampering our development as a nation. As I got older and hopefully a little wiser, I realized this was just a microcosm of our society in general. My family and friends back home are more concerned with competing with one another, which greatly impairs their judgement and decision making, but sadly they cannot see it and may never do. Many of the locals do not support businesses in their own community, just because they don't want their neighbor to thrive and be successful. I had one family member replace his perfectly good roof with another just because the neighbor upgraded his leaky rotten one and he couldn't live with the thought of his looking older. When I go back home, sometimes folks judge me or cast aspersions because I don't dress flashy or rent an expensive car. Their entire lives revolve around one upping each other and showing out, when in realty they all have nothing(relatively speaking) and would be so much better off if they banded together.

Anyway, enough of my preamble. As an outsider these days, I'd like to share my perspective on the WC selection for what it's worth. I find that even the more "learned" ones among us fall victim to the crab in a barrel mentality.

Continuity
Year in year out, we complain about chopping and changing and lack of continuity when it suits us. It was refreshing to me that our administration had a plan and picked largely the same team for the SL, SA, AUS and Pak series, with the expectation that this would comprise the core of your WC lineup. Now, all of a sudden, we want players dropped and replaced on the basis of a couple 50+ scores or taking a few wickets in a few matches(which anyone can do). We want the administration to simply ignore a player's entire body of work for a potential flash in the pan.

Mistreatment of Senior Players
Lara, Chanderpaul, Sarwan, and a host of other players were mistreated towards the end of the careers and we often gripe about that, justifiably so. Here we have Chris Gayle, the greatest T20 batsman ever whose records may never be surpassed, and some people have the gall to suggest we drop him before the world cup? The implication is that he's a passenger on the Team, but he averaged 25@135 in this year's IPL and 41@137 in last year's edition, against the best t20 bowlers in the world in ASIA. I would hazard a guess that only Pollard has done better than that. So let's put the nonsense aside, he makes the team on MERIT, so let's give him the send off he deserves and thank him for being the pioneer that he is and entertaining us all these years. I can't think of anyone more deserving. We can't go back and correct past wrongs, but I applaud the administration for at least trying to correct it going forward. Actually, Darren Bravo's selection could be viewed as such as well, as he had the rug pulled out from underneath him in the prime of his career by a previous administration and he was never able to overcome it.

Seniors vs. Youngsters
We always complain about the Team being too old or too young, so every time we get a new administration we go from one extreme to the next. The obvious answer in sports the world over is to have a good mix of young up and coming players and veteran leadership. We have exactly that with the Team selected, and people are STILL complaining. Oshane(who happens to be from my neck of the woods), while a bit wayward, is still the fastest bowler in the Caribbean and I see absolutely nothing wrong including him this Team to learn. We struggled this summer when Teams like Pakistan and Australia cranked up the pace against us in all formats.

The Administration
Yes, we have had very poor administrations over the years, but can you think of a single one that wasn't derided, ridiculed and attacked as being insular, incompetent, and/or corrupt? As soon as we get a foreign coach, we complain about mental slavery and paying the white man millions, but when we get a good local coach we run them out of town. Gibson wasn't bad and neither is Simmons. The truth is we will NEVER have the perfect administration, and the closest we would ever get is to hire outsiders from top to bottom. That way even the perception of insularity is absent and we can put away the knives from stabbing each other in the backs over and over again.

This administration is not perfect, but to me they are at least making an effort(as evidenced above) and are better than all the ones we've had in the past 20+ years. We simply cannot have it both ways. Yes, the fitness requirement thing doesn't look good at all, but it's not as if that impacted players from a single island. Would you ask Tom Brady to run a 4.5 40 yard dash? More transparency is definitely needed, but let's take a deep breath and put away the knifes for once. We can rally around and support the Team, despite our perceived slights.

Sometimes only a bird can inform the the crabs about the folly of their ways, but dem hieze haad(quite literally).

In reply to 1Desiabnu

Nice post. Respect. Thumbs up emoji.

In reply to 1Desiabnu

Great post, enough said

In reply to 1Desiabnu

Enjoyed your post. May not agree with the totality, however an excellent read. Established your position without denigrating any player chosen for the squad. Respect.

Coconut Crab eats bird
Link Text

In reply to 1Desiabnu

I think most reasonable people would agree Chris Gayle is the greatest T20 batsman the West Indies has produced.

On the other hand, most reasonable people would agree Chris Gayle is not the batsman he once was.

That in my view is the crux of the Chris Gayle World Cup debate.

The number of former great West Indies players who felt they were mistreated at the end of their careers is too long to mention.

Chris Gayle has made a significant contribution to West Indies cricket. It would be fitting if he leaves after winning a World Cup.

In reply to 1Desiabnu

Now, that's good writing.

In reply to 1Desiabnu

Clap! Clap! Clap!
Great Post

To add to that, they would rather support the Chinese Establishment
already with the advantage of an interest free loan and mandate from China to drop two kids and begin gentrification. Sooner or later the only children going to college from the area are Chinese Caribbean born.

I would have said great post had you not mentioned Gibson as a positive force in West Indies cricket. A team leader who rewarded a culture of backstabbing, promoted talentless puppets who towed the line, and ostracized reasonable talent with the audacity to speak out against his evil brand.

Not so long ago that I should forget, Gayle was made Captain by default, a move I champion thinking the added responsibility would increase his heart rate, and it did. He literally carried the team on a tour down under, when he was approaching a century in OZ his young opening partner was on ten. Then in NZ a freakish dismissal deprive him of a double century.

Shortly after that he couldn't carry water for the team with Gibson and Sammy, simply for speaking what everyone knew to be the truth. Gibson went as for as to lie on Gayle, and in my book that is the unforgivable sin. A good team leader relish dissenting voices.

The executive most responsible for the successful Walt Disney world, wasn't a seasoned professional, it was a young man like Gayle, promoted by default recognized for his fearless candor, who put more value in honesty than in material rewards.

How many team leaders in the Caribbean, in any capacity are willing to hear the honest truth? Change that and you will change not only our cricket, minds, communities, islands. We are so shallow that we cannot recognize, as in the Book of Genesis, when your neighbor is blessed everyone around him share in the blessings.

In reply to 1Desiabnu

I agree fully with what Badders said here:

In reply to 1Desiabnu

Spot on. Just read some of the comments when they attack.

The diaspora are slimy and weird… see Socafighter

In reply to 1Desiabnu
Well written. However I have to take issue with this comment:

Correction of past wrongs should not be specific to individuals. If Bravo was given the short end of the stick previously, the board /selectors should ensure that the injustice is not repeated, not attempt to compensate Bravo at the expense of others. What happened to Bravo in the past should be irrelevant to whether he is selected going forward. Selection should be based on merit.

Glad you guys enjoyed my post. I just woke up with an urge to write something positive that morning. I think my only other post in the past 7 years was to implore people to not run for the hills during the stock market crash last year. A couple of those threads really made me upset because people were giving really bad advice. I get that this is entertainment and folks post here as an escape so to speak, so those people will stay away from threads like this, which is fine. It's important however, to keep things in perspective and learn from the past whether it be cricket, stock market, or just or day to day lives.

In reply to imusic

I find it ironic that you were the first person to respond to this thread. Over the years I've found you to be the most balanced and reasonable poster. voiceofreason would be good handle for you(unless it's already taken by someone who is not)

In reply to Fivestar

Father time catches up to us all, but even so his numbers and experience stacks up favorably compared to the rest of the Team. It will be interesting to see what he does in the IPL, but I wouldn't bet against him.

In reply to Dreama

Thanks for sharing. He certainly wasn't the best leader, but it serves to further emphasize the point that the current administration is doing much better. I would like to think Gayle and Sammy eventually patched up their relationship. Sammy always spoke glowingly about Gayle.

In reply to Logic

I agree, I would not have included him either. I was just suggesting that it may have played a part in it. I don't think he will make it to another WC in any format.

In reply to Barry

Who is socafighter? Did you know coconut crabs live to age 60+ ? Fascinating creatures.

In reply to Barry

Who is socafighter? Did you know coconut crabs live to age 60+ ? Fascinating creatures.

I guess everywhere else in the world they all get along.

In reply to 1Desiabnu
Nice post, but is audio available?

In reply to natty_forever


I guess that's one way to look at it. Trivialize every issue by pointing the finger at others. I think it's a bigger problem in our society because people generally have very little, if anything to start with. Another family member of mines was thinking about buying a truck but couldn't come up with all the money so he came to me for help. I said ok fine, I'll put up half the money and the only thing I ask in exchange is to cut in another family member 20% of any net profit on a monthly basis. Mind you, the other person is not a deadbeat or anything. He's the hardest worker I've ever known, but he's uneducated and a victim of circumstances. He would also be the one working on the truck day in day out for little or no pay at all and he would never complain. Do you believe my offer was declined? His explanation was that "people ago talk tings and it ago cause problems".. Needles to say I was floored, but it's just the mentality of the people-they would rather cut off their nose to spite their face.

In reply to Wally-1