Tony Becca
THE FIRST Test between the West Indies and South Africa is scheduled for Bourda starting on March 31. Based on the 13-man squad from which the team will be selected, the Windies will be without three of its top players or to be more precise three of its top four players, and to be more exact, three of its top four batsmen.
Missing from the squad are Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, and to a number of fans around the region, that is a bad move.
BEST REPRESENTATION
Listening to the fans enough of them that it is difficult to ignore the West Indies must be represented by its best players, and something must be done about it, even iit means getting rid of the board, or getting rid of the sponsors, or getting the other players to go on strike in solidarity with Lara and company a company that includes Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul.
While there is no doubt that the West Indies should be represented by its best players, it cannot be at all costs; it cannot be at the expense of the board; and it cannot be done if it means undermining the board's authority.
So far, however, the politicians have shied away from any move to get rid of the board, and apart from the fact that they have no authority to do so that they would be begging for trouble that is good.
The fact that politicians have not moved, as some people have suggested, to put the board in its place does not mean, however, that nothing has been happening; that the politicians and the players association have accepted the board's stand; and that all is well. On the contrary, the fight may have just started.
The telephone lines, it is understood, have been running hot since the announcement of the squad minus Lara who was invited to join it, and Gayle and Sarwan who were not.
According to one grapevine, politicians have been talking to the board in an attempt to get it to back off in the interest of West Indies cricket.
ALLEGIANCE
According to another, the players' association has been talking to players selected to the squad in an attempt to get them to show allegiance to their colleagues by refusing to play in the Test match; and according to still another, on top of all that, there has even been talk of a court injunction on behalf of the seven players.
It is still anybody's guess, therefore, what is in store for West Indies; whether or not there will be a Test match or even the Test series.
Apart from the embarrassment to West Indies cricket that any adjustment will cause, there could be serious repercussions if the series is cancelled, not only financially, but also as far as the 2007 World Cup is concerned.
Whatever the repercussions, however, the board, in the interest of West Indies cricket and after showing some guts for a change, must stand firm for the simple reason, and especially remembering the problems of the past 10 years, including, among other things, the stand-off in 1998 before the tour to South Africa that if it does not stand firm its mettle will always be tested.
As important as West Indies cricket is, it cannot afford to become a political football for politicians especially as they only remember it at times like this.
It cannot afford to be seen by sponsors and potential sponsors as weak and without any integrity, and as far as a players' strike is concerned, it should remember six things.
The first is that the performance of the West Indies can hardly get any worse than it has been over the past 10 years. The second is that with the exception of two or three, there is hardly any difference between the top 22 or so players in the region. The third is that the presence of Lara does not even guarantee a good contest, much more victory. The fourth is that there are thousands of players around the region. The fifth is that there will always be players ready to represent the West Indies. The sixth is that because of the money, some of them have no choice but to play.
CONSIDER THE PAST
The board should also look at the past and remember the crowds that turned up around the region and in India to see the West Indies in action despite the absence of champions like Gordon Greenidge, Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Lawrence Rowe, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Colin Croft during Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.
If that is not enough for them to remember that no one is indispensable, if that is not enough to make them confident that, like the Prodigal Son, the players will all want to return and will return, all the board members need to do is look at what is happening in Zimbabwe with Heath Streak and company: After walking out they are all coming back.
The West Indies should be represented by its best team no question about that. It cannot be at all costs, however, and just as the board is expected to act in the interest of West Indies cricket, so too should the players, so too should the players' association, and although they should not attempt to run West Indies cricket, if they feel to offer advice, so too should the politicians.
