Tony Becca

The report of the governance committee on West Indies cricket is now in the hands of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

The committee, under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, with Sir Alister McIntyre and Dr. Ian McDonald as members, was formed to look at the structure of West Indies cricket and make recommendations as to the future of the game. And there is no question about it, the report contains many recommendations.

Among other things, all of which we hope will be addressed by the board, the committee has recommended a new governance structure to be divided into Cricket West Indies Council and Cricket West Indies Board, peace between the board and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), a closer relationship with the ICC as it relates to better use of services (coaching, marketing, etc.) available through the governing body, a closer and better look at economic and financial issues, more recognition and better use of former players, and the formation of a professional league.

In the report, signed by all three gentlemen, the conclusion stated, in part, that "it is our prayer that very soon the West Indian public will be able to share in the undiluted enjoyment of the game, and the days of 'cricket lovely cricket' will return once more", and I am positive that is also the prayer of every cricket fan in the West Indies.

Involvement of the people

The conclusion also stated that "we must be all determined to return West Indies cricket to a position of ascendancy such as it enjoyed in the past, that nothing else will do," and if that means the participation, the involvement of the people, that is the gospel.

While all the other recommendations, each and every one of them but one, are important in the bid to improve the standard of West Indies cricket, the involvement of the people is key to the return to the glory days - to the West Indies producing, once again, a good cricket team, a strong cricket team, and a cricket team so good and so strong that it was once the champion team in the world and rated by many as arguably the best of all time.

In the years before the glory days of West Indies cricket, West Indies cricket was strong, and it was strong for the simple reasons that almost every boy played the game. It was strong because of the numbers playing in the schools and in the youth clubs, because of the numbers competing for places on school teams and on youth club teams. The competition was strong and that competition brought out the best, in every respect, of the youngsters. It was the best, in those days, that represented the schools and the youth clubs and it was the best that went on to the clubs to further develop their skills in the hope of representing their territory and then the West Indies.

Yes, in those days, cricket in the West Indies was strong, and it was so strong that hardly anything else mattered. In fact, it was so strong that representing, for example, the Jamaica cricket team and then the West Indies was the dream of almost every boy.

No spectators

In those days, club matches on a Saturday were well attended, Jamaica matches at Sabina Park or Melbourne Park also were well attended, and when it came to Test matches, people, fans of the game or not who travelled from far to see their heroes in action, used to line up from four and five o'clock in the mornings for a game starting at 11.30 and later on at 10:00 a.m.

In those days, cricket was king.

Today, cricket is no longer king, there is none or hardly any youth club around, almost any boy who plays cricket in a school walks into the school team, many school boys represent club teams, many club teams, which are now like school boy teams, play short, and most importantly, there are hardly any spectators at school boy matches and at club matches.

The sad truth is that while there are a few, a handful, at some, there are no spectators at the majority of club matches, and, while there are many at Test matches, especially so on Saturdays and Sundays and more so at One-Day Internationals, there are no more than a sprinkling at territorial matches.

There has hardly ever been a champion team out of a country in which, as far as the people's support is concerned, the sport is weak. Right now, the people's support for cricket in the West Indies is weak, which is why there is hardly a man or a woman at local cricket on a Saturday or on a Sunday. This is why there is not enough financial support for the game, the absence of people and the lack of money are the reasons why the clubs are suffering, an times have changed, even though there are more attractions around, until the support of the people for the sport returns to what it was in days gone by, the glory days of West Indies cricket will never ever return.

West Indies cricket has reached the stage that there was not even radio commentary (and certainly so in Jamaica) for the early rounds of the recently concluded KFC regional limited-overs competition, and one of the recommendations of the governance committee is that the West Indies Board, "establish a close working relationship with the media not simply as the official purveyor of information on the game in the region, but just as importantly as a partner in promoting the popularity and success of cricket in the West Indies."