Dear Editor,
So (in modern parlance) the “report on cricket governance penned by the distinguished Hon P J Patterson” (the former prime minister of the homeland of WI’s two best batsmen since Chanderpaul and Sarwan left or were removed from the scene, that is to say, Gayle and Samuels, (they of limited formal education), is finally acknowledged by the distinguished Sir Hillary, as are Dr Keith Mitchell’s “solid cricket credentials.” (‘The UWI places itself at the disposal of Caricom and the WICB…’ Sunday Stabroek, November 15). Ancient history, is what I call those matters.
All the way up here in Canada we have been familiar for a long time with the credentials of these two scholar prime ministers, the one from the land of wood and water, and the other from the isle of spice. In the WI, however, even Sir Hillary`s major contribution to the vastly important reparations debate is not as widely known as it should be. I would have been much more impressed if the VC had pressed for the adoption of the Patterson report and the following of Prime Minister Mitchell’s advice much earlier in the game. Sir Hillary may be pleased that the High Performance Centre was located within UWI, and that two youngsters, Jason Holder and the opener Kraigg ‘Paint’ Brathwaite, both HP graduates, were made captain and vice-captain respectively of the WI Test team. I am not so sure that many knowledgeable cricket people share his glee, especially with regard to the two youngsters, neither of whose careers is likely to benefit from the assumption of such huge responsibility at such an early stage, and whose appointments may introduce unnecessary inflexibility into the selection process for some time, but, of course, they appear to have the special advantage deemed so important to cricket performance by Sir Hillary that they are “educated,” or perhaps just speak well.
Seriously, one has to wonder on reading the last paragraph of this letter, whether WI cricket, the WICB, UWI or Dr Beckles himself, is the principal concern of the writer.
In any event, the jury is out on whether there is a nexus between university education and cricket, or indeed sport in general. If one were to make a judgment based on the real geniuses, or just the highest performers throughout the world in this marvellous game, one would be forced to say there is none, and what is more the university has more pressing concerns. And do not accuse me of being anti-education. If I had my way, most of the budgets of all the WI countries would be spent on education, and not just for cricketers, but for everybody.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
