It’s mindboggling how West Indies cricket has fallen from its pedestal. Three decades ago the players from the Caribbean at once evoked awe, fear and respect that made their rivals turn green with envy. Fast forward to today and the contrast is plainly evident.
Once the world-beaters, they are now the butt of much ridicule and scorn. Their successes on the cricket field have been few and far between in all formats of the game and they hardly have a player who would walk into a World Eleven. To make matters worse, they always seem to be at loggerheads with their employers, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
With the Twenty20 World Cup in India looming, the players have once again made news for all the wrong reasons. They have rejected the WICB’s financial terms for the tournament and are in effect holding out for more money. The WICB, blamed by many for the poor state of cricketing affairs in the Caribbean, has threatened to kick out the players.
Cricinfo.com on Tuesday published a letter from Darren Sammy to the WICB in which the West Indies captain said the financial terms for the World Twenty20, which starts in India on March 8, were unacceptable.
“We want to represent the West Indies but the financials on offer we can’t accept,” Sammy wrote.
WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead’s reaction was not at all sympathetic. On the contrary, he went all out on the attack.
“The WICB is committed to play in the tournament, let me say that first,” Muirhead said on a radio talkshow.
“No one will leave the shores of the West Indies without signing a contract and if these players in particular choose not to sign, then I guess we’ll be left with no option but to substitute other players for them.”
This is not the first time things have gone out of hand over money. In September 2014, the West Indies, led by Dwayne Bravo, abruptly pulled out of the tour of India with one ODI, one T20 and three Tests remaining to be played.
The issue is not about who is right or who is wrong. The question that riles every cricket-lover is how can the stakeholders of West Indies cricket allow matters to reach such a sorry pass. Clearly there is something seriously wrong in the way the game is run in the islands.
West Indies are the 2012 World T20 champions and are current ranked second in the format, but with the World Cup less than a month away, the dispute could have a negative impact on their preparations.
Even cricketers of modest abilities rake in big bucks these days thanks to the proliferation of T20 leagues. The flip side of the T20 rage is that thanks to the money involved in private leagues many have quit playing for their country. In the past such an attitude would have been considered near-blasphemous.