It is founded on the premise that it is not really cricket at all and, more especially, that the mega-bucks paid out by Indian tycoons, Bollywood stars and a bogus American financier have given young West Indies players a false sense of their worth.
It is not that Holding begrudges the fees cricketers now earn. He joined Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket back in 1977 precisely because it offered him and others a proper wage as professional sportsmen.
His concern is that most of those with bank accounts boosted into seven figures by Twenty20 now measure success more by the numbers on the cheques they collect for appearing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Australia’s Big Bash, Stanford’s Super Series and England’s equivalent than on those alongside their batting and bowling averages.
His theory was given ample airing in the West Indies’ performance in two matches during the past week.
Teams packed with millionaires, the wealthiest ever to represent the burgundy and silver, were acutely embarrassed by the supposed nonentities of Zimbabwe, first in the T20 International at the Queen’s Park Oval, then in the first One-Day International at the Guyana National Stadium.
The reality is that most of the highly touted, and paid, West Indians have international records, and experience, no better than their counterpart paupers of Zimbabwe, not one of whom is distracted by the fame and fortune of an overseas Twenty20 contract.
Of the 11 West Indians on the field in the second ODI at the Guyana National Stadium yesterday, only Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had more than 50 ODIs on their cvs. Only three of the Zimbabweans had fewer.
Keiron Pollard, whose earnings from Trinidad and Tobago, the South Australian Redbacks, the Mumbai Indians, the Somerset Sabres and the West Indies, will bring in around US$1.5 million this year, averages in the teens in his 21 ODIs and 13 T20 Internationals. He is yet to play a Test or score an international hundred. Eight Zimbabweans have.
Kemar Roach is less than a year into his international career and already has a US$700,000 IPL deal.
Based on his reputation as big hitter, stiff medium-pace bowler and dazzling fielder, Dwayne Smith has been a Twenty20 specialist for Sussex, New South Wales, the Mumbai Indians and the Deccan Chargers. But his inconsistency has limited him to spasmodic appearances for the West Indies in recent times.
Andre Fletcher, who pocketed US$1 million from the Stanford Super Series win over England in 2008, has fewer ODIs and Twenty20s to his name than half the Zimbabweans.
There were prime examples in Thursday’s ODI loss that, while Twenty20 riches can buy diamond earrings, gold chains, designer watches and lifelong financial security, they can’t guarantee basic cricketing sense.
After that match, captain Gayle furiously identified the main offenders in the loss as Pollard, Smith and Denesh Ramdin. He might have also mentioned the ludicrous run outs of Fletcher and Narsingh Deonarine and the fumbles in the field but there was enough on his mind as it was.
“Those guys were key for us and the way they went about it was a terrible display,” Gayle said of Pollard, Ramdin and Smith.
“It is very disappointing and sad to see how they went about it.”
Pollard, whose expensive status is based mainly on his power-hitting, casually stroked a catch to mid-on during the batting power-play when only three fielders are permitted outside the 30-yard zone.
Ramdin was bowled – for the seventh time in his last 12 innings for the West Indies.
Smith was the most culpable. When Nikita Miller’s 6, 4, 1 off the first three balls of the final over left four to win off three, a usually straightforward task, he premeditated his well known default shot – the across-the-line slog – and the match effectively lost. It could be his last swing for the West Indies.
Ramdin, who had played every match for the West Indies since December 2008, and Smith both paid for their indiscretions with their places in yesterday’s second ODI.
Gayle’s censure was as strong as any captain gets. The language in the stands was far more direct and abusive.
It was the West Indies’ 11th defeat in 12 ODIs, a stunning statistic. If it continues, the slide will carry on even further down the ICC rankings.
The return of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, presumably for the last three ODIs, will bolster the strength but the truth is the cupboard of reputable reserves is all but bare.
The regional first-class tournament that ended last weekend was an exercise in futility. At the end of it, there was not a single new player the selectors could identify as ready for international cricket.
It is easier at present to be optimistic over an end of the drought than a turnaround of West Indies’ cricket woes. Yet board president Julian Hunte and chief executive Ernest Hilaire were upbeat back in January.
“The season promises to be an exciting one and we are really looking forward to some tough, hard and competitive cricket on the field and positive support and enjoyment by the fans off the field,” Hunte said.
It turned out to be a dud. It was poorly promoted, if at all, a host of top players were missing, either injured or away in Australia, the standard was as low as usual (against 11 totals over 300 there were 22 under 200) and crowds at most matches were in three, sometimes even two, figures.
Ten of the 14 batsmen with over 300 runs were the usual suspects who had already represented the West Indies and all but two of the 13 bowlers with over 20 wickets were run-of-the-mill spinners.
One apparent success was the bold experiment of floodlit matches with the pink ball.
All reports are not in but the general response from players and spectators was positive. When Tests are also inevitably played at night, the West Indies can claim to have led the way.
In contrast, the other innovation – to stage a round a time in the same venue – was a predictable flop. It limited Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Leewards and Windwards to one home match each, Barbados and the so-called Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) to two.
The arrangement was seen at its most ridiculous when Barbados and the CCC were despatched from their home base in Barbados to far-off Nevis for their match.
And while Hilaire declared before it all started that the WICB would be “looking to utilise some of the wonderful facilities we have in the region”, only seven of the 21 matches were staged at the “wonderful facilities” that were the supposed legacy of the World Cup.
You really have to wonder who sits in the WICB office in St. John’s and makes such decisions.
