West Indies cricket and National Dignity

guyana chronicle editorial

THE CPL cricket tournament will soon come to a close and attention would return to the state of West Indies cricket. Despite its crowd appeal and superior earning opportunities for the cricketers, T20 cricket would never inspire the same kind of nationalistic emotions as the other forms of the game.Perhaps the Caribbean’s embrace of the shortest format of the game has something to do with the Region’s dismal showing in the other formats. It is a distraction from the disappointment over the team’s persistent failures. Yet when the distraction is over, the woes of West Indies cricket remain. Only recently we learned that the team may not make it to the Champions Trophy on account of its further drop down the ICC rankings. Many would ask what’s new. For those who lived through the glory days of West Indian dominance, the hurt is forever deep. Of course in periods of decline fingers are pointed in all directions. A good example is the public and official responses when the unthinkable happened – the West Indies team quit a tour of India. Some blamed the Board while others blamed the players. In the midst of this blame game the real essence of the moment got lost. Very little energy is expended on thinking of the impact on the larger society. West Indian self-worth has been partly built on its performances on the cricket field. CLR James captured this sentiment best in his celebrated book, ‘Beyond A Boundary’. As the smallest and poorest cricketing nation, it was cricket that brought the world’s attention to the genius of these small post-plantation islands and mainland enclaves. When a Garry Sobers or Rohan Kanhai or Viv Richards or Clive Lloyd and Malcolm Marshall walked on to the cricket field they took with them all of the complex history of their people and transformed it into artistry and imagination. This is what became the raw material for a proud Guyanese and Caribbean nationalism. It is this linkage between cricket and self-definition that is missing from both the cricket field and the discourse beyond the boundary. Through no fault of theirs, the younger generations see cricket as a forum for partying. Absent is any deep sense of what the game means historically and culturally. It is from these centers that the cricketers are recruited. It is no surprise then that they lack the tenacity, and thought-process needed to overcome other teams that are more grounded in their sense of their place in the larger history and social development of their societies. Where do we go? Some may think we have tried everything. But we cannot give up on cricket. To do so would be to admit the failure of our Independence. As our Caribbean societies reflect on 50 years of Independence and imagine and plan for the next 50 years, our cricket should be at the centre. In this regard we recommend that as part of the official commemoration of our 50th anniversary next year, we mount a series of cricket groundings that reflect on the centrality of the game to our evolution as an independent nation. This should be done with the aim of developing a new cadre of cricket nationalist-warriors to help us restore dignity on the cricket field and beyond the boundary.