Tony Becca WEST INDIES cricket is suffering an they are easy targets as far as dedication and commitment, good discipline, training and practice are concerned, they do not appear to be putting out anything in an effort to get back something, it is not entirely the fault of the players.
While something like an academy would be useful, the absence of one also has nothing to do with it.
The reason for the suffering is that West Indies cricket, from the bottom to the top, left, right and centre, is not what it used to be - and it is as simple as that.
Unlike the days when they were the centre of social life in the societies of the Caribbean, the cricket clubs, for example, are no longer what they used to be. Instead of attracting the best in the society, the successful in the society - and in great numbers at that, but for the few diehards, but for the few schoolboys, today they are empty and penniless with hardly any money to provide basic things like a good pitch on which to play, bats and balls, lunch and tea - not to mention a coach.
Unlike the days when the big man in the society, with money in his pocket and influence all over the place, was the president of the club, today, even though he brings nothing to the table, sometimes not even a basic love for the game or a cent in his pocket, it is whoever is available is the president - and more so the secretary or the treasurer.
Sponsorship
Unlike days gone by when, probably because cricket was the number one if not the only sport played around the islands, sponsor-ship or financial assistance in other forms was available to keep the clubs and competitions going and to help the general development of a young, promising cricketer, today there is hardly any help for cricket.
Unlike the days when older players - former Jamaica and West Indies players - would be at the clubs and assisted in the development of a young cricketer, but for one or two good Samaritans, but for a Courtney Walsh or a Jimmy Adams whenever he is around, that no longer happens.
Unlike the days when, except for a few, except for a George Headley, a Sonny Ramadhin, and one like Alfred Valentine, a Michael Holding or a Malcolm Marshall, players were not selected until they had properly learned the game and had scored some runs or taken some wickets. Today, and mainly because players leave the game early in search of money to feed themselves and sometimes their families, players are taken from the cradle and placed into the West Indies team.
One top of all the above, that is one reason why the West Indies are losing, that, maybe, is why there is so much talk about academies and what have you. And that is why, instead of expecting batsmen who represent the West Indies to score centuries, that bowlers who represent the West Indies should take wickets, and that everyone representing the West Indies should be able to field the ball, some people, including those who are always talking about not giving them enough time to perform and those who believe a batsman should be given as many matches as he wants to score a century, talk as if we should provide nipple bottles for some of them - for many of them.
Class
None of our great players - not Headley, not Frank Worrell, not Everton Weekes, not Clyde Walcott, not Ramadhin and Valentine, not Rohan Kanhai and Gary Sobers, not Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kallicharran, not Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge, not Wes Hall, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Malcolm Marshall, and not Walsh and Curtly Ambrose - needed more than a match or two, many of them not even more than one match, to parade their class.
One reason for that is because the club system in those days was strong - so strong that when a player came out of it he was, generally, ready to play first-class and, after a while, Test cricket.
Until the clubs are as strong as they once were, until the clubs get enough support, financially and otherwise, the fortunes of West Indies cricket, academy or no academy, will not change - for the simple reason that no one, regardless of how great he is, can build from the top down.
It would be unreasonable for anyone to believe that a businessman or individual should pump all his money or any of his money and all his time or any of his time into cricket - certainly not with so many other sports being played in Jamaica and so many worthwhile charities around to support in the interest of a better Jamaica.
What cricket needs, however, is the assistance of those who profess to love the game, those who now contribute next to nothing, and those who talk and criticise so much when the West Indies team is not doing well.
If all those who profess to love the game were to get involved with the game - with the clubs one way or the other - the game would be stronger in these parts and West Indies cricket would be so much stronger.
If those who profess to love the game appreciate the fact that those who represent the West Indies are also representing them, and that their failure is also their failure, they probably would support the game - one way or the other.
Over the years, companies like NCB, D&G (now Red Stripe), Victoria Mutual, JNBS, Scotia Bank, Capital & Credit Merchant Bank and Supreme Ventures have been good to cricket.
Up to now, however, the Jamaica Cricket Association, for example, cannot find a sponsor for the Super Cup - the island's top competition which is scheduled to start on May 5, and apart from the poor standard of play, one reason for that is the lack of support for the game on Saturdays and Sundays.
