Dear Editor,
There was a time when the West Indies Cricket Team used to rule the world of cricket. We were far and away the dominant force in the game, consistently riding roughshod over such teams as Australia, England, India, Pakistan and New Zealand. But that is fast becoming a distant memory for the people of the West Indies. The sad truth is that West Indies cricket has been in the doldrums now for a full quarter of a century, and our once great and all conquering Test team is now only truly competitive with the minnows of the international game – the teams in the second rank of the Test standings – teams like Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Simply put, our West Indies cricket team has been “the sick man” of test cricket for a full quarter of century now, and shockingly, virtually none of the persons entrusted with the administration of the game over this extensive twenty five year period has produced or advanced a serious and concrete prescription to restore the “sick man” to health once again! Isn’t it time that our cricket administrators – both national and regional – unveil to the people of the West Indies a coherent, innovative, concrete and transparent plan to elevate our cricket, and express a resolve to be held accountable for the implementation and effectiveness of such a plan? Or will we have to wait another quarter century for such a development?
When Barbados’ Mia Mottley-led governmental administration came to office in 2018 with the country in a deep and prolonged economic crisis, they immediately crafted a concrete and transparent national plan known as the “Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation” (BERT) Plan, and made the details of the Plan known to the entire populace, so that the people could know what was being planned; could support and participate in the implementation of the Plan; and could hold the Government accountable for its performance.
Similarly, now that our Caribbean community is undergoing a serious economic downturn as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, our regional Heads of Government and our CARICOM Secretariat are urgently putting together a “CARICOM Economic Recovery and Transformation” (CERT) Plan, as a blueprint for piloting our region through the pandemic and ultimately restoring our nations to financial and economic health. You mean we are not entitled to expect something similar from our national and regional cricket authorities? Where is our “West Indies Cricket Recovery and Transformation” plan?
Sincerely yours,
David Comissiong
