As the wife of an avid cricket fan I decided a long, long time ago that my life would be a lot happier if I got to know the game of cricket and the people involved. I must confess I’m still struggling with the silly mid ons and silly mid offs but I’m getting there. My greatest involvement is still waking before ‘cock put on him draws’ to prepare cooked lunch for the boys, whenever the West Indies Team plays in Jamaica. However I can’t help but express my disappointment at the state of West Indies cricket today.

Follow up:

To know where we are coming from as a region makes my heart ache. I think of players such as George Headley, Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Michael Holding, Jeffery Dujon to name a few. More recently we have had players such as Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Many times I remember the thrill as the West Indies Team always seem to take the game to the last over and some times the last ball. Three runs needed to win with one ball to go. Those were the good old days of cricket lovely cricket.
There was a time not so long ago when the West Indies team was highly respected and feared by other teams. Today we still have individual talent. Brian Lara holds the batting record for the highest Test and first–class scores. Chris Gayle is fifth in the top 10 of one day international batting ratings and Ramnaresh Sarwan is twelfth. However we seem to have lost the ability to gel as a team.
The Australians have taken over the lead in cricket. Even with England’s victory in England in the last test series between the ‘Aussies’ and the British I think most people will agree that the ‘Aussies’ are the top contenders at the moment. The One Day International series held in Melbourne also helped to cement the ‘Aussie’ position. The World XI side lost all three One Day International games by wide margins.
The dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WIC and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) has not helped the sport any. The conflict between both parties over the sponsorship deal with Digicel is still unresolved. Fortunately this will not interfere with next months Test series scheduled for Melbourne Australia. The WICB and the WIPA have agreed to have the issue mediated. Let s just hope that the cricketers will be able to focus on the game and not concentrate on the unresolved issues.
Overall the image of the game has been badly tarnished. The people of the Caribbean however continue to hope. We ‘cuss’ after each game, swearing never to waste our time again. Then next match we’re there just the same.
Nuff Love