THE EDITOR, Sir:IT IS evident that our selectors, coaches, captains and players can all apply more wisdom in their judgments. Perhaps team indiscipline is even a factor. There is no doubt also that our team has been hit by a spate of injuries. These are unquestionable realities. It may even be true that umpires are inclined to give West Indian players out on dubious appeals whereas other batsmen have to be out beyond all reasonable doubt.
However, the decline of West Indian cricket has far more to do with geo-economics and global development patterns than any of the above-mentioned factors and all of the other explanations we often use to soothe our shattered Caribbean cricketing egos.
In the Seventies when we dominated the cricketing world, developing countries actually had a glimpse of self-determination and a feeble foothold in global affairs. Back then the cataclysmic gap between the powerful and the poorer countries actually showed faint signs of narrowing. Cricket was one of the signs of that trend.
Since the Eighties, especially since the end of the Cold War and since the vulgar spread of international capitalism under the shallow disguise of globalisation and democratisation, it has been back to colonial business as usual.
Despite the token spread of the trinkets of development, such as cell phones, motor cars and other 'bling-blings', over the last two decades there has been a runaway widening of the developmental gap. Again, cricket is one of the signs of this trend.
Third World sports in general has been relegated to sporadic sparks of individual brilliance on the international scene. Brazilian football is the only notable exception, and like West Indian cricket, that too might change, and just as rapidly.
FORTUNATE
The West Indian cricket team will be fortunate just to keep its Test status over the long term if the global economic and development trends continue unchanged.
Ours is the world of computer-aided analyses, hi-tech training facilities and sophisticated drug-induced performance enhancement. Shane Warne's recent ban and the drug scandal emerging other places underscore the fact that natural talent is no longer the sole determinative factor in sporting success.
If any doubt lingers, just match up the gross national product or the resource base of the cricketing nations with their international ranking, then draw your own conclusions. And tell me, is it just my racial sensitivity, or is it really darker at the bottom of the ICC listing?
I am, etc.,
STANLEY REDWOOD
stanley_redwood@yahoo.com
Middle Quarters
St. Elizabeth
Via Go-Jamaica
