THE entire region has been buzzing with excitement as the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup bowls off in a few days time with what is expected to be a stupendous opening ceremony in Jamaica.
But recently, a comment from West Indies bowling legend Michael Holding caused uproar among cricketing fans. Holding said Bermuda and their fellow cricket minnows did not belong in the World Cup.
Holding, who was the guest speaker at an awards ceremony in that country, said he did not make that statement during his speech, but after being interviewed by a reporter about the structure of the World Cup.
The outspoken Holding, speaking on Hitz 94 FM, said he told the reporter as it is.
Blame it on ICC
A lot of persons are echoing that opinion that Bermuda shouldn't be playing because they are too weak a team and will only be embarrassed and water down the tournament.
Blame it on the governing body - the ICC - certainly not Bermuda. They went through the entire qualifying process. It's not their fault.
But if Holding is right in this case, was Caesar Maldini, coach of Italy's football team, correct when he said similar things about Jamaica, prior to the start of the 1998 World Cup in France?
Maldini certainly earned the wrath of Jamaicans and when Italy lost to France 4-3 in the quarter-finals, Jamaicans were overjoyed.
I am sure the Bermudans will do the same if the West Indies fail to win the Cup.
The experts will say that the Jamaica and Bermuda cases are different. For the football World Cup there were hundreds of teams that tried to qualify and Jamaica was one of 32 that succeeded.
Just as Jamaica did, Bermuda went through the qualifying stages and qualified fair and square. The other teams that took part were Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Uganda, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, the United States, Namibia, Papua New Guinea and Oman.
No matter which tournament you look at, there will always be minnows that either create a major upset or allow all sorts of records to be created against them.
At the 1987 World Cup, Sri Lanka were then minnows and lost every game they played - eight years later they were world champions.
Bermuda might not have the infrastructure to be world champions in the near future, but they will certainly play their part in making this World Cup a memorable one.
In their warm-up game against England, they struggled to 45 all out. How often will we see that? Quite spectacular!
This is my house and you are welcome to send your comments to howard.walker@gleanerjm.com.
