Dear Editor,
The people who control cricket are usually not active cricketers, yet so often they seem to be fighting with the active cricketers, primarily over money, but occasionally about other issues. The Australian board that manages cricket in one of the two most successful cricket countries, is now locked in a struggle with players that is threatening the up-coming Ashes series. The West Indian board manager of the other most successful cricket country, has been engaged in a never ending war with its players. The circumstance of recent terminal losses by West Indian teams that are embarassing beyond belief, does not seem to make any difference. One possible explanation is that these struggles represent the natural conflicts of capital versus labour, except that directors of cricket boards have no capital at risk. One close observer explained the West Indian situation with the proposition that West Indian administrators believe they are more important than the cricketers, which seems fairly plausible. The conflictual nature of the relationship is puzzling because, while there might be some basis for debating the relative importance of labour and capital in light of the lack of compelling evidence of greater economic success historically in countries where labour supply is abundant, with cricket it seems so clear that the cricketers literally produce the bulk of the revenue. Thus it is perplexing how often the best are sacrificed by boards. I suspect one reason for the anomalous situation is that the majority of influential fans instinctively find players’ incomes exorbitant in light of the nature of their work, and therefore tend to support management, although often silently. In the final analysis, therefore, the issue may be one of public relations. If the players want what is right for them they must organize, and use public relations strategies to win the battle for public support.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
