There were three intriguing statements from three of the most influential men in West Indies cricket during the week. All were related and significant.
In Harare, where he reveals that he is being splendidly hosted by the Zimbabwe Cricket authorities, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), The Honourable Dr.Julian R.Hunte (as the official media release duly titled him), felt compelled to publicly congratulate the West Indies team on recovering from their loss to Zimbabwe in the first One-Day International to win the second.
The relief after the embarrassment of the initial setback must have been immense. But the president’s open elation at a victory in a one-day match over modest opponents ranked two spots below them at the tailend of the ratings by the ICC and no longer even accorded Test status simply reflected the present state of West Indies cricket.
Yet, juxtaposed against the comments made by the new chief executive, Dr.Donald Peters, to the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) in Port-of-Spain, it was a clear indication of a changed WICB policy towards the players.
As a preamble to his main point, Dr.Peters pointed out that the West Indies currently have the second youngest team in the world and that the players are small compared to others like Australia and South Africa (only two above 200 pounds and 5 feet 11 inches).
It means that they are “very different” from those of the great eras under Sobers’ and Lloyd’s teams.
What is more, their issues are similar to those confronting young people globally and, he asserted, the public “seem to have been unable to understand what makes them excel and they, on the other hand, seem unable to understand why we don’t understand them.”
According to Dr.Peters, the present lot believes that their great predecessors, the legends of the glory days, “have no confidence in them or no time for them.”
In addition, they believe that “the media is especially hard on them
