Devon Dick

Today, the first match in the ninth Cricket World Cup begins at the refurbished historic Sabina Park between hosts West Indies and Pakistan. It is now time to rally 'round the West Indies.

It is now time to put aside our differences and focus on supporting the West Indies cricket team.

This is not the time to boycott the World Cup because of the folly of the ICC cricket rule which allows an umpire to declare a team a cheat without trial. This is not the time to recall that ICC CEO Malcolm Speed fully supported umpire Darrell Hair and, I suspect, Billy Doctrove in their controversial decision to award a Test match to England based on an allegation of cheating. Hair is gone but not even a slap on the wrist for Speed or Doctrove.

This is not the time to grumble about the Chinese loan to construct the Trelawny stadium or that millions of dollars were pumped into Sabina Park, which is largely owned by citizens who do not allow women in their membership.

Not the time to criticize

This is not the time to criticize the West Indies cricket administrators and players. Forget about the wrong anthem being sung in Grenada or that Jamaican company, Surrey Paving, was called in to Antigua at the last minute to prepare the airport for the tournament. This is not the time to criticize the organisers for the avoidable glitches.

Now is time to rally 'round the West Indies. Let us support the West Indies cricket team. Some of the reasons offered why we cannot do well are wide of the mark. Some say we cannot do well because we do not have enough fast bowlers like yesteryear. However, Jerome Taylor and Darren Powell can do it because when we won the first World Cup the only genuine fast bowler was Andy Roberts. The other West Indian bowlers were Bernard Julien, Vanburn Holder, Keith Boyce and Clive Lloyd who were not even fast medium. In fact, the Australians who lost to the West Indies in that final match had two of the great and fastest bowlers in Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson backed by Gary Gilmour.

Let us rally round the West Indies cricket team and do not be too harsh on them when they make a mistake. If no batsman makes a mistake then nobody else will get a knock. If bowlers bowl only perfect balls then the game will be over in two overs.

In addition, in that 1975 finals which we won by 17 runs the wicketkeeper Deryck Murray, now President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Association, dropped two easy catches. Not to mention that the Australians had four or five run-outs in the match.

Bowled out

I also remember the 1983 World Cup Finals. In the build-up, the Indians were not given a chance in the newspaper articles. They were bowled out for a paltry score of under 200 and it was expected to be a stroll in the park for the West Indies. However, India won.

The truth, the West Indies can win this World Cup with the team we have. Let the crowds support them every match, win, lose or draw. This is our moment in the sun. It is estimated that 2.6 billion viewers watched the opening ceremony held in Jamaica. That was awesome and augurs well for the future well-being of Jamaica and the Caribbean. Can you imagine what it would be like for us to win the World Cup?

Let us, therefore, rally 'round the West Indies cricket team.