BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

A leading Caribbean academic with strong ties to West Indies cricket believes the recent decision of leading West Indies players to withdraw their services needs to be seen in the context of the state of West Indian democracy.

Professor Hilary Beckles, the principal of the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Barbados and an ex-officio director of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), said it was "a clash of the traditional values of national representation with the new ultra-individualism unleashed by economic globalisation".

"The new ideology is citizen first and nation second; cash before country," he wrote in an opinion/editorial in the Nation newspaper in his native Barbados.

"West Indies has the most vulnerable cricket culture in the global arena because the West Indian nation as a political construct is weakest and therefore most at risk."

He added: "Unless there is civic renewal among the youth and a recommitment to the values of nation building, cricket and country will crash as a failed project.

"In this cash-driven instance, striking players represent that section of youth society that has lost its way; it is misled, misguided and in need of re-education and political orientation in respect to the legacy of (West Indies) cricket."

Careers in the balance

Beckles expressed fear that many brilliant young cricket careers are currently in the balance on WIPA's scale.

"But these should not be lost on account of the politics of a 'few dollars more'," he said. "The best of bargaining comes from seeing that the golden goose should not be imperilled.

"The WICB needs the money to modernise. Its management is under-resourced and weak. At the moment six people are trying to manage the tasks which are done by over 50 persons in England and more than 80 in Australia."

He continued: "Without WIPA's support, this modernisation cannot be achieved. Nor will the funds be found to invest in youth cricket, clubs and other critical support systems.

"The WICB has adopted the Australian model: about one quarter of all revenues to go to players. This is a good development and should find consensus."