Tony Becca

I DO not know Dwayne Bravo well enough to believe that he means whatever he says, but whether he means them or not, his recent words were wonderful to hear. In fact, they were like music to the ears.

Most cricketers today, indeed most sportsmen and most sportswomen, in this day and age of professionalism, are so obsessed with money that regardless of how much they have, they no longer seem to enjoy the game. In fact, sometimes it even seems as if they do not even enjoy winning - and definitely so, not at the first-class level or the Test level.

A few days ago, however, after returning home from South Africa and getting ready for the Stanford Twenty20 and its US$1 million first prize, Bravo, a rising star on the West Indies team, one of the first 'picks' on the West Indies team, was quoted as saying, "I love to play cricket" and "I love to play for T&T".

Team spirit

According to Bravo, "This team has tremendous team spirit and camaraderie; what has really struck me with this team is the fact that they go out there to play cricket and to win trophies for T&T."

According to Bravo the first prize is US$1 million, he does not believe that the money is the motivating factor. To him it is a "fantastic prize", the real motivating factors for the guys are playing together and winning another trophy for their country, and he believes that because those are the motivating factors and not the money, T&T will win the trophy.

Based on what Bravo has said, Trinidad and Tobago are a team, they are a unit, as far as cricket is concerned, they all believe in the same things, and maybe that is why they are doing so well.

Somehow, I believe what Bravo said in Port-of-Spain, and I believe it because of the nice blend of young and old, or nearly old, in their team, and more so after sitting and watching them during a training session last year.

Commendation

Bravo

Manager Omar Khan, coach David Williams and captain Daren Ganga really deserve a pat on the back for what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago's cricket - for not only turning out so many talented young players every year but also for getting the young, like Denesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, William Perkins, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo, plus others like Ravi Rampaul, Gibran Mohammed and Dave Moham-mad, and the not so old, like Mervyn Dillon, Rayad Emrit and Richard Kelly to play together for the benefit of Trinidad and Tobago's cricket, and eventually West Indies' cricket.

As it is in everything else in life, money is important to cricketers and, obviously, nothing is wrong with that. It is, however, not everything, it should not be allowed to take away from the enjoyment of playing the game and it should not rob a man of the necessity to do well - to give his best, to try to give his best, every time he walks out to bat, to bowl and to field.

When a man stops enjoying cricket, or any game for that matter, his end as a performer is near, and his end is near for the simple reason that if he stops enjoying the game he will not only lose the will to perform - to set goals and to go for them, he will also lose the drive to practise and to train. And if he loses that drive, as good as he may be, as good as he thinks he is, his skills will become something of the past.

When that happens, so too will the money. It also will become something of the past.

Sometimes when I look around at some of the region's cricketers - including some of Jamaica's, when I look at their faces and instead of smiles I see frowns, when I look at them walking around as if carrying the burden of the world on their backs, and when I hear them speak - sometimes so low that one can hardly hear them, I wonder what tragedy has befallen them; and most times, it has to do with whether their team won or lost, whether they performed or not.

Cricket, and so, too, every sport, is something to enjoy by those who play, it is something that provides entertainment, and those who play it, and particularly so the professionals, should remember that.

Thank you for your wonderful words, Dwayne Bravo. I sincerely hope you meant every one of them, and looking at you on the field, on your enthusiasm, deep down I believe you do.