The politics of West Indian cricket In the space of six years, the West Indies cricket team has slipped from the top of the ladder to almost the bottom. In less than a year they have lost three series in succession one to England, one to Australia, one to South Africa. Is it that the West Indies are no longer producing talented players? Is it that the talented players are not developing as quickly as they used to do? Or is it that the West Indies Board is not doing a good job? Talent is not confined to any particular generation, so it cannot be the lack of talent; and if the talent around is not developing as quickly as it used to be, the fault lies with the West Indies Board whose responsibility includes guiding the development of the game and the players. In order to fulfil its responsibility, however, the board has to be strong, and unfortunately successive boards have not been strong - not because its leaders and its members are necessarily weak, but because of the environment in which it operates. Development calls for new ideas, plans and programmes, and to its credit, the board has come up with some good ideas, and it has some good plans and good programmes. The problem has been to implement them, and the reason for the failure to do so, and thus to really benefit from them, is simply the politics of the region and the politics of West Indies cricket. Everything in West Indies cricket, from the selection of the president of the board, the selection of the captain of the team, the selection of the team, the appointments of managers and coaches and the employment of high-profile staff members, such as the chief executive officer and the marketing manager to the site of matches and the assignment of umpires, is hampered by politics of one kind or another, and that is the problem. Once upon a time, politicians and board members worked in the best interest of West Indies cricket. Today that is not so. Today everything is one big bargain with some politicians wanting everything for their kingdom, most board members looking out for their country and for their man, and in their bid to protect West Indies cricket, to keep it going, the leaders are forced to trade. That is the problem affecting West Indies cricket, that is why so often the best man for the job is not selected, that is why so many players get away with indiscipline, and with all the best intentions in the world, the leaders can do little or nothing about it. Board members are elected by the territories and the president cannot remove them. His choice is to trade and hope for the best or pack his bags.
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