Tony Becca, Contributing EditorBASED ON what I have heard and on what I have read, the West Indies Cricket Board is looking better in the present impasse involving the players than it is has ever done.
Unlike the past when the sympathy was always with the players, this time it appears that the sympathy, at least some of it and probably more of it, is with the board.
The board, however, is still under immense pressure, and as stated before, it is under pressure from all the sides - from the players and their association, from their sponsors, from its former sponsors, from the fans, and from politicians.
The fans and some politicians, for example, are calling for the board to be scrapped.
Looking back, much of what is happening today is the result of the board's attitude in the past - the attitude that saw some of its members acting superior to most of the players, the attitude that said players must be patriotic but not well paid, the attitude that saw the board failing to market West Indies cricket when West Indies cricket was not only the most attractive in the world, but when it was also the best in the world, and the attitude that saw the board failing to set down proper guidelines in its efforts to administer West Indies cricket or, when finally it did come up with some, failing to ensure that every one, including the players, toed the line.
DIFFERENT ATTITUDE
Although there is a need for more changes, the attitude of the board today is, however, different from what it was in the past. The board today is making efforts to earn more money, it has been paying the players as much as it can, it has even ignored those who have been pleading to it to pay according to performance, and most importantly, its members no longer believe the players are inferior to them.
Things have changed so much in that area in fact that some board members are now in awe of some players to the extent that they would do nothing that would prevent the players from representing the West Indies.
There are also politicians who are like those board members and that is one reason for the present problem: because of the politicians, the continued involvement of the politicians, the players and their association believe that in a stand-off with the board, they will always win.
Instead of calling for the board to be scrapped, the fans and the politicians, the people who are always talking about "in the interest of West Indies cricket", should look at themselves and check to see if they have been acting in the interest of West Indies cricket.
The fans certainly have not been acting in the interest of West Indies cricket.
LACK OF MEMBERSHIP
If the fans were acting in the interest of West Indies cricket, the clubs, the heartbeat of the game, would not now be suffering - and they are suffering from the lack of membership, with 10 or 15 people at matches, they are suffering from the lack of attendance at matches, and because of all that they are suffering from the lack of money to buy bats and balls so that they can produce players to represent the West Indies.
If the fans were acting in the interest of West Indies cricket, first-class matches would be financially successful. Although the first-class season is part sponsored, the local boards are losing a lot of money because of poor gate receipts even though the cost of entry is so cheap that in Jamaica it is a mere $200 per day.
The politicians also have not been acting in the interest of West Indies cricket.
RETAINER CONTRACT
If the politicians were acting in the interest of West Indies cricket, they would have, as they had promised to do, answered the two calls in the past 22 years to come up with the money that would have allowed the board to fund a retainer contract for the players, and although the previous board apparently sat on it, if the politicians were interested in West Indies cricket they would have agreed to the regional lottery as proposed by the board before that.
The lottery, according to the board, would have brought a lot of money into West Indies cricket. It was, however, never approved.
In recent years, the fan support for West Indies cricket at all levels has been diminishing, over the years, the politicians, especially at a time like this, have talked more than they have done, and on top of that, in the interest of West Indies cricket, they both need to understand something.
The fans need to understand that if they get involve at the club level, they can, by their vote and their influence on others who vote, change things - including the board. The politicians need to understand that the board members were voted by the cricket fraternity to administer West Indies cricket and should be allowed to do so without political interference.
