Tony Becca
THE WEST Indies Players Association's (WIPA) awards banquet at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday night was an enjoyable affair. It was so enjoyable that those who were invited and did not show, those who bought tickets and did not use them, should still be kicking themselves.
As master of ceremonies, Simon Crosskill said at the start of the proceedings, despite the poor performances of the West Indies team during 2004, there were some excellent individual performances, and with applause after applause ringing around the room, the performers, from young Xavier Marshall to master batsman Brian Lara, were presented with some impressive-looking trophies for their outstanding performances.
The recognition of those achievements, however, was not what made the evening so enjoyable at least not for me.
What really made the evening so enjoyable was the atmosphere.
Although there were constant reminders of the poor performances by the West Indies in recent times, the atmosphere was lovely. It was one of hope.
It was great, for example, to see the West Indies players looking happy and really enjoying themselves, and it was great to hear the cheers from the players as well as the fans when the names of the winners were announced, to see the winners striding up to collect their trophies with a smile on their faces and to see them walking back, still with a smile on their faces.
On top of that, it was great to hear the handclaps echoing around the room when, for example, guest speaker Clive Lloyd, said that West Indies cricket was not dead, that it was only ailing, that there was no need to panic, that there was some wonderful talent around, and that with good planning, it would only be a matter of time before the West Indies were back to their winning ways.
It was also wonderful to hear Lara saying that his dream now is to be part of a team that will be as good as the one led by Lloyd to be part of a team that will rally around captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul so that he can become another Clive Lloyd.
The cheer in response to that was deafening.
Were there any disappointments on Tuesday evening?
Yes, there certainly was one.
CRICKETER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Apart from the feeling that Gayle, with a record of 1,135 runs, four centuries, seven 50s, an average of 54.04 and 21 wickets in 12 Test matches, 722 runs and 21 wickets in 23 matches in one-day cricket, should have won the International Cricketer of the Year Award and not Lara whose record during the same period read, 1,178 runs, three centuries, four 50s, an average of 58.90 and no wickets in 12 Test matches, 484 runs and no wickets in 20 matches, the disappointment was that WIPA missed a wonderful opportunity to make peace with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
Towards the end of his welcome address, WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine said there is only one way ahead for us, and that that one way is "forward forever forward, never backward, one people united in our love for cricket and our determination to succeed".
That is why it was disappointing, not to hear him referring to the impasse between WIPA and the WICB, but to hear him refer to it in the way he did on an evening like that.
After saying that he believed strongly that WIPA was a part of the solution and our players were all committed to that goal, Ramnarine followed up with these words:
"Those who are responsible for administering the game should not deliberately undermine the game and its players. WIPA is the most transparent of organisations. That is why we can attract sponsors who demand nothing more than to help the game. We can do without sponsors whose only determination is to help themselves at the expense of the game, and we can do with greater transparency from those who administer the game. Nuff said."
On an occasion when everything was positive, when the players appeared ready for the fight back, and when the fans seemed ready to support them, WIPA spoiled it, its own function, a well-organised function at that, by what was said.
It was a glorious opportunity to say, in a nice way, to the board and the sponsors, regardless of what has happened, let's join hands for the glory of West Indies cricket.
