It is said that all is well that ends well, and based on what happened at the meeting in Guyana on Tuesday involving Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo - the chairman of CARICOM - the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), West Indies cricket seems to be heading back towards the good old days.

After a day of discussions, the two parties, the WICB and WIPA, agreed to mediation and to accept former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal as the arbitrator. The players who were on strike agreed to make themselves available for selection - even though, rightly so, they have not been selected for the first two one-day internationals against Bangladesh and, according to the Board, not only will they not be included for the rest of the series but they also will not be in the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.

players end strike

In fact, according to reports coming out of the meeting, everyone present was so concerned about what was good for West Indies cricket and what was in the best interest of the West Indies people that the players had to end their strike, that the Board is certain to accept the olive branch and will select them for the remainder of the series, and that the discussions to follow are sure to lead to solving the problem, or problems, of West Indies cricket.

What is important, however, is that in the arbitrator the meeting came up with a strong and respectable man - a Caribbean man out of Guyana with integrity and one whose opinion and ruling should be, and will be, respected by all.

As happy as I am that the meeting apparently went well, that it seemed to have served its purpose, and that it appears to be only a matter of time before everything is worked out to the satisfaction of both the board and the players' association, I am simply praying and keeping my fingers crossed.

West Indies cricket, certainly in my time and definitely so in the past five or so years, has been at a crossroads similar to this many times: there have always been meetings with politicians and others followed by promises of a new day. Then, after a year or so - in fact, sometimes after a month or so - it has always been back to square one.

Hopefully, things will be different this time around.

There is no question about it, the West Indies should be represented by the best players, by the best team; the West Indies people and all those who, at all the levels, work for cricket day after day, deserve to be properly represented, and in the interest of the game, for the sake of Test cricket, the West Indies is obliged to put out its best team.

An advertisement by the University of the West Indies in the media praised its players, five of them, including the captain, for gaining selection to the senior West Indies team, but, regardless of what the university believes, regardless of what it feels it has achieved, playing in a fourth or fifth-rank West Indies team against Bangladesh is no big thing.

To many people, the blame for what has happened to West Indies cricket must be shouldered by the board, with its record of inefficiency over the years, with its failure to act in the interest of West Indies cricket over the years. While I totally agree with them, there are others, including the players and the players association and the so-called fans, which must share some of the blame.

accept responsibility

When it is remembered that it is the board which was elected to administer West Indies cricket, and that it is the board which is in charge of and, therefore, is responsible for West Indies cricket, it must, in the final analysis and regardless of the reasons why, accept the responsibility for what has happened.

One hand, however, cannot clap, and when one remembers the indiscipline of some of the players, on and off the field, their attitude towards the game - towards training, practising, and playing when they are not busy representing the West Indies - and their thoughtlessness, their selfishness, when it comes to the welfare of the first-class players in the West Indies, when one remembers that the clubs around the West Indies and especially so in Jamaica are dying because of lack of support in terms of membership, and when one remembers that only a handful of people attend cricket matches around the region, it is difficult to throw everything at the board.

The West Indies team, for example, is a losing team. As many of us have been saying for some time now, the majority of the players, as talented as they may be, are not developed enough to compete on a regular basis in Test cricket.

That affects the board's ability to attract sponsorship. That is one reason why the fans do not go to matches, and, as professionals, it must be, to a great extent, as it is in every other sport, the responsibility of the professional players to train and to practice, to hone their skills and to get themselves fit.

If West Indies cricket is to survive this crisis, however, it needs all hands on board.

The time has come to look at West Indies cricket with a magnifying glass - to look at what has happened to the game and why, although they fill the boxes to overflowing on Test match days, to look at why people of influence are no longer in the clubs and in the game. It is also a time to look at the people who are elected to office in the clubs, at the people in office in the respective territories, in office in the board and to look at the first-class game in the region and those who are loosely called professionals. It is also a time to look at who really forms the players association.

the players' association

Apart from the fact that professional sports cannot, and should not, be administered by amateurs, if West Indies cricket is professional, every first-class player should be paid - if the West Indies society and West Indies cricket can afford to pay them - every first-class player should be a member of the players' association, and, if that is so, then the players' association should represent them all, Test and first-class, equally and fairly.

Right now, WIPA, it appears, represents the Test players only - except on occasions when it seems to be in the interest of the Test players.

The board may not be the only guilty player in the present saga, but it has a lot for which to repent, much to correct, and plenty for which it must say "never again" if it is going to administer West Indies cricket properly.

Sir Shridath Ramphal with Caribbean Luminary Award.