Stephen Vasciannie, Contributor
LAST WEEK, Winnifred Murray, the administrator in the Department of Govern-ment, at the University of the West Indies, Mona, kindly gave me an essay entitled 'Remembering a Cricketing Legend'. She has instructed that it is to be read to a young man who is yet to make his sporting choices.
The essay recounts the main aspects of Sir Frank Worrell's life, on the occasion of the unveiling of a plaque at the University of Manchester in honour of the former West Indian Test cricket captain. Worrell was a graduate of that university.
The plaque has therefore been placed on the wall of a building where he worked for his degree. It states simply: 'The University of Manchester commemorates Sir Frank Worrell, 1924-1967, international cricketer, graduate, B.A. administration 1959'.
The story of Sir Frank continues to inspire all who aspire to cricket greatness. Although he died at the early age of 43, his skill, commitment, and conduct on and off the field have easily placed him in the pantheon of cricketing heroes.
LESSONS
In light of the current imbroglio between some West Indies cricketers and the board, three aspects of Sir Frank's life struck me as I reviewed 'Remembering a Cricketing Legend'. First, the board was for too long a reactionary, colonial-minded, racially biased organisation.
Without a campaign led by C.L.R. James in The Nation newspaper in the late 1950s, the board would have remained attached to the overtly racist view that a black man should not captain the West Indies Test team against England or Australia. The board had to be dragged in the direction of good sense, equity and fairness, and into the modern world, at that time.
MONEY PROBLEMS
Secondly, although Sir Frank took his degree in administration in 1959, he had money problems as a young cricketer. 'Remembering a Cricketing Legend' notes that Worrell came to Manchester in the late 1940s to study optics at UMIST, and simultaneously signed up to play cricket professionally with Radcliffe in the Central Lancashire League: 'Lack of time and money forced him to give up the course after a year'.
Thirdly, the essay recalls that the West Indies team that toured Australia under Worrell's captaincy for the 1960 to 1961 tour lost that series, but left the continent to a ticker tape farewell and enduring respect. This was the series of the famous Tied Test in Brisbane, and incidentally, of the entertaining book, Cricket's Brightest Summer by The Gleaner's 'Strebor' Roberts. It is reported that Sir Frank drew the best from the players, not by strong-arm methods, rather, he 'charmed, encouraged, led and corrected' (per Ivo Tennant, Worrell's biographer).
PLAYERS MAKE THE GAME
So then, as we look to today's controversy, how can history help us? Without wishing to comment on the details of the dispute, and noting that not all the relevant information appears to be in the public domain, it seems appropriate to argue that the West Indies board needs to bring itself into the modern era. Test cricketers should not have to worry about financial security after their playing days are over, even if they cannot demand the stratospheric rewards that prevail in, say, basketball, soccer, or baseball.
The board should also be mindful that the players make the game, not the administrators. True, administrators must think not only about the game today, and must tax themselves with issues of development, organisation and policy. But, even so, in some respects the current board seems all too keen to exclude players from the team, for reasons that are not clearly explained.
HEADING FOR A LAWSUIT
How many times now has the West Indies board sought to exclude Brian Lara from a team for non-disciplinary reasons? Why, exactly, should the West Indies have to field a substandard team when its strongest players are available to play? Where is the evidence that the board has 'charmed, encouraged, led and corrected' the players in the course of the current impasse?
From the outside, the board appears to be heading for a lawsuit, and for the kind of division that prompted the Kerry Packer cricket series in the 1970s. One wonders what that other captain and cricket giant, Clive Lloyd, might do to help the board out of the current difficulties.
Finally, the Kerry Packer problem resulted in a well-known decision of the English High Court in Greig vs Insole, on restraint of trade and other technical legal issues. The current dispute will probably turn on elements of contract law, and so, outsiders cannot draw full conclusions, as the terms of the respective contracts are not readily available. But, on this point, a very senior Caribbean judge has spoken, and appears to have come down in favour of the excluded players.
The board, it seems to me, needs to disentangle its cables and wires. The memory of Sir Frank Worrell deserves no less.
Stephen Vasciannie is a professor at the University of the West Indies and a consultant in the attorney-general's chambers.
