Cozier: There is acrimony between the board and the players. - File

Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

THE STICKY Wicket West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame's induction ceremony for 2007 was held on Sunday evening at the Sticky Wicket Restaurant and Stanford Cricket Ground in Coolidge, Antigua.

In typical Stanford fashion, it was a truly magnificent occasion.

In the inaugural ceremony back in 2003, 14 of the great West Indies cricketers of all time were inducted into the Hall of Fame, in 2005 another two were inducted, and on Sunday, another two, the late Sir Clyde Walcott and Wes Hall were inducted.

With all the previous inductees present, with all but one of the 10 nominees for this year also present, with Michael Holding paying wonderful tributes to the two inductees, with calypsonian David Rudder serenading them in song, with dancehall king Sean Paul leading the celebration afterwards, and with beautiful fireworks capping off the night, it was a lovely and memorable affair in a beautiful setting.

In many respects, however, the star of the evening was Tony Cozier - the veteran West Indies journalist and commentator, the doyen of commentators around the world, the man who has seen more Test cricket, more one-day cricket probably than anyone alive, and the man who delivered the keynote address.

Standing on the lush lawns of the Stanford Cricket Ground, home of the Stanford 20/20, and before a full house, Cozier, in his cool, inimitable style, talked about the history of West Indies cricket. He talked about where it came from, where it has been and where it is at. He talked about some of the great players and some of his own experiences with them, and he talked about the relationship between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the players.

Importance of stanford

In a well-prepared speech which touched on almost every aspect of West Indies cricket, Cozier, also talked about the importance of the Stanford 20/20 cricket tournament and the impact it could have on West Indies cricket.

He referred to Stanford as the modern day Kerry Packer and he talked about West Indies cricket and the West Indies cricketers of today, and all from the heart.

Starting from the days of British colonialism when players were selected based on everything else but their skill, and when writers like C.L.R. James wrote with political independence in the back of their minds while pushing for, among other things, a black man to captain the side.

Then when cricketers, first like Learie Constantine and George Headley and then like Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Walcott himself, played with political independence on their minds, Cozier spoke of how players of those days carried themselves, carried their responsi-bility as ambassadors of the people and how they performed - every stroke, every delivery, a reminder that they were equal to anyone and everyone and definitely so on the cricket field.

"It was the sport, the game, they gave us, and every day Headley, Worrell, Weekes and Walcott, were proving that they were as good as and getting better than them," said Cozier who went to remind the audience that for 15 years, between 1980 and 1995, the West Indies had become so good that they were the best in the world - better than any team on the planet.

West Indies cricket, said Cozier, was, for a long, long time, the joy of the world.

According to Cozier, over the years, West Indies cricket had reached the stage where the players representing the people were coming from every corner of the society - from the working class and from places like Maraval and Santa Cruz in Trinidad and Tobago, from Swetes and Five Islands in Antigua and from Port Mourant in Guyana.

Good time for cricket

West Indies cricket, said Cozier to a backdrop of handclaps, had reached the stage where the best were now being selected regardless of the colour of their skin and from wherever they may come - even if those selections, sometimes, were not based on logic.

Cozier went on, however, to say that things have somehow changed in West Indies cricket and something needs to be done about it, if West Indies cricket is to rekindle itself and go back to the glory days.

Unlike days gone by when players were motivated by political independence, their love and their passion for the game, the players today, because of a changing world, because of a world in which everybody in sport is now being paid, are motivated by money - as was evidenced in 1977 with the Packer World Series and in 1983 when the rebel cricketers went to South Africa.

According to Cozier, there is an acrimony between the board and the players - so much so that players do not feel that the board is on their side. The division between the two makes it difficult for the players to perform and unless something is done about it - to bring them together, it will be a long time, if ever, before West Indies cricket returns to th where the great players of the past had taken it.