Tony Becca
KEN GORDON, the new president of the West Indies Cricket Board, has a job on his hands, it is a tough job, it is to make the West Indies a winning team, and cricket fans around the region are hoping and praying that he will be successful.
Once the best in the world, the West Indies have skidded so much and so fast in the past 10 years that they are now at the bottom of the rankings, and are ranked above only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, and to West Indians, cricket fans or not, that is embarrassing.
Gordon, however, plans to do something about it, and hopefully he will succeed.
The problems in West Indies cricket include the dispute between the board, the players and a retainer contract for the top players. According to the president, those, along with more transparency, bringing the stakeholders together in the interest of West Indies cricket and victory in the 2007 World Cup, are the priorities on his agenda.
If he is successful in dealing with them, West Indies cricket will be on the way back to the top.
IMAGE HURT
Although the West Indies performance was poor long before the dispute, there can be no question that it has hurt West Indies cricket and its image.
Although the West Indies were the best in the world when there were no retainer contracts, there is no doubt that the end of the dispute and retainer contracts would be good for West Indies cricket.
The end of the dispute, for example, would ensure that the best players represent the West Indies, it would make the job of the coaching staff easier than it is, it would lead to a better prepared team, it could lead to a more united, all-for-one, one-for-all West Indies team.
All things being equal, it would make the West Indies a better team - good enough to compete with the likes of Australia, England and South Africa and, in time, good enough to once again be the best in the world.
FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT
And remembering how strong the West Indies were when so many of their players were playing in the English County Championship - when they performed so well, not only because they were playing first-class cricket regularly, not only because they were playing in different conditions against top opposition, but also because they were financially independent and therefore more confident, retainer contracts could have the same impact.
Apart from funding, retainer contracts in the region could present another problem, however, and for it to work, Gordon, his board and the Players' Association will have to be strong.
West Indies cricket cannot afford, certainly at this time, too many players on retainer contracts, it will have to be a select few, and the politics, the insularity of the region is such that it is almost a safe bet that the territory which does not have a player on contract, the territory whose star boy is not on the list, will cry foul.
One of the problems with West Indies cricket is the attitude of a number of the players, and that also could be a problem with retainer contracts.
Unless the idea is simply to put some money into the pockets of some players, retainer contracts will not work in the best interest of West Indies cricket, unless the board makes certain demands.
The players, for example, should be required to train and practise regularly and to play cricket - to represent their clubs in domestic competitions.
It cannot be that the players do what they want to do when they feel like doing it, or that they do nothing at all.
For those who do not remember, a few years ago when the first attempt at retainer contracts lasted for one year, some of the players on contract were sent to Jamaica to represent the clubs and parishes in the then County Championship.
Some of them found every excuse not to play, some of them played only a few matches, and even when they did play, some of them simply went through the motions.
CHECKED WITH EXPERTS
Gordon has said that he checked with experts in Australia and England re the importance of retainer contracts and he said he was told that it helped them in putting out good teams, and that is correct.
For retainer contracts to work in the West Indies, however, the players will have to be told of their obligations and the board, through the respective territories, will have to monitor them. The players should not be allowed, through flimsy excuses, to get away from training and practicing regularly, and from playing matches in domestic competitions.
The dispute, retainer contracts, transparency and unity in the fraternity deserve to be on president Gordon's priority list - no question about that.
One of the problems with West Indies cricket, however, is the attitude of the players, many of them, and the board, needs to address that - so too the Players' Association.
Unless there is a change in the attitude of the players, unless they all realise that performance is important, that they need to train and practise regularly and that match practice, even at club level, is important, nothing will change - at least not on the field.
