Tym Glaser GLOBAL WARMING, or the concept thereof, doesn't seem to have reached England yet.
Heck, if that is summer, I'd hate to see their winter.
However, if things are chilly in the Old Dart right now, they are downright frigid between the West Indies Crony Board (WICB) and the players.
It's hard to pick sides when both groups are the 'bad guys' who have taken the game to new depths on and off the field.
Theshorter the game, the better for the Windies whose glaring lack of technique and fortitude is not too cruelly exposed in the slugfest known as Twenty20 cricket. Maybe if there were Ten10 competition WI could be world champions again.
Meanwhile, the board could not organise a sexual liaison in a brothel and, under the stewardship of president Ken Gordon, has lost any vestige of respect and relevance it once held in the region.
It has taken the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) to arbitration court five times over the last few years and lost each time. The most recent humbling defeat came earlier this week when the judge sided with the players - again, and the A team's tour of Zimbabwe was cancelled.
GYALE'S WEB DIARY COMMENTS
Just before that, and perhaps itching for a fight it thought it could win, Gordon and Co. censured short-game skipper Chris Gayle for comments he made in his web diary.
None too pleased with the WICB's tardiness in getting all of the one-day squad to England on time and its reluctance to confirm him as captain when he was the only viable option, Cool Hand Chris said he was 'disappointed' with the board and that if it wanted better from the players, the players wanted better from the board.
Now that's just what any first-time captain needs before taking charge on the international stage.
Gayle stuck to his guns and said he would not apologise and brought up the minor point that his musings had been 'vetted' by team manager Michael Findlay, who was also at the wrist-slapping meeting.
Good for Gayle, I say. He stood by his words and did not back down to a hostile hierarchy.
Maybe the spat was just what the battered team needed at its lowest ebb and could galvanise it around the captain.
The board obviously has it in for Gayle but, as far as I can remember, he's never really stepped out of lin his name is often one of the first mentioned when there are reports of trouble in the camp.
His laissez-faire attitude on the field irks many but that's just Gayle being Gayle. England captain Michael Vaughan is hardly a livewire but you don't hear any complaints about him.
It seems the board now is like some bloated, old heavyweight fighter looking for that one big blow to recapture its past glory.
Fortunately, it's getting pummelled from pillar to post every which way it turns and the end is nigh for, at least, Gordon next month.
However, hitting the head of this slovenly beast will not make things better. A radical rethink of all facet of the board's operations needs to be done, otherwise West Indian cricket will continue to sink into another ice age.
So much for that global warming, huh?
tym.glaser@gleaner jm.com
