With the current state of Test Cricket in the West Indies it was no surprise to find the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium empty on the morning of Day 1 of the recent Test against India.
Upbeat carnival music blared from the loudspeakers from the ‘party stand’ as both teams conducted their warm-ups. I was shocked to find that the music even continued between overs, sometimes delaying the start of an over as players were forced to wait for the music to end.
Following the national side’s success in the World T20, it is no surprise to find Test cricket in the West Indies also being turned into a party. Despite this, the whole of the North Stand was empty, the Antiguan flag clearly visible with the lack of any spectators. After all, who would want to watch this Test side struggle when they could go home and watch Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers blasting the ball in the Caribbean Premier League?
Many of the locals I spoke to easily blamed the low Test attendances on the continuing battle in the West Indian Cricket Board.
Island Politics
“There is too much island politics”, said one local. “I stopped supporting the West Indies after they failed to represent Antigua’s Rahkeem Cornwall in this series, as they have better ties with Jamaica.”
Interestingly, Cornwall took five wickets in the warm-up games against India and even Virat Kohli was reportedly shocked when he found out he was not included in the squad. Another Antiguan blamed the lack of attendance for this Test on poor timing, as it coincided with Antigua’s carnival – which locals were happy to prioritise over watching Jason Holder’s men toiling in the field as Kohli eased his way to a double hundred.
However, there is a general sentiment amongst the population – they want to watch the best possible players playing for the West Indies Test team. They want to see Chris Gayle opening the batting ahead of Rajendra Chandrika, who doesn’t even have a first-class hundred. They would easily prefer to see Sunil Narine bowling ahead of the mediocre Devendra Bishoo, who struggled to find any rhythm with the ball. So when these players decided to favour the CPL, it is hardly surprising to find out that there were some record attendances at grounds across the Caribbean.
National Identity
Another reason why the CPL has gained in popularity is that it allows fans to support a local team, and have representation.
I observed that the locals have a strong sense of national pride, and many fans will take great pleasure in supporting an individual from their island on the national stage. While some journalists have made a comparison to the County Cricket set-up, that comparison greatly undersells the patriotism felt by the islanders.
Therefore, when a player from their island is rejected for no apparent reason despite proving himself valiantly, like Rahkeem Cornwall, they lose faith in the Board.
Speaking to a former Antiguan Under-19 cricketer, Damien, he claimed that the scouts are biased even at a domestic level. Damien, a spinner who took 7 wickets in a final watched by West Indian selectors, was denied a trial on the grounds that he was not consistent enough. Yet in fact the final was the first match he played for Antigua’s Under 19s, showing a lack of research or interest from the selectors.
There are countless stories like these throughout the islands, and it has chipped away at the reputation of the West Indian Cricket Board and has caused many fans to lose faith in the system. Apparently, the Board has strong ties with certain islands and is happy to prioritise them for funding and favour their players. This has been extremely detrimental to the state of West Indian Test cricket, with many talented cricketers being denied a chance due to this corruption. Until these prejudices are combated, West Indies cricket will not be able to reach its full potential and the Board needs to step back and prioritise the individuals ahead of the islands.
Relationship between Board and Players
The over-arching rift between the players and the Board does not seem to be near any sort of conclusion. Despite a global shift in popularity towards limited overs cricket, the West Indian Cricket Board failed to provide any support to their players who won the World T20 this year, and it seems their support for this Test team is lacking also.
A stubborn Board is insistent on only negotiating with the West Indies Players’ Association, yet only one player in the limited overs squad is a member of that Association. It is time for West Indian Cricket to talk directly to the players; they never even held a meeting with Dwayne Bravo after he held a strike against the board in 2014, which caused the tour of India to be called short.
It is this distinct lack of internal dialogue that is causing the West Indies to suffer drastically.
From this, it is apparent that they do not have the success of the West Indies Team as their priority, and it is time they readdress their focus away from wages to restoring their national pride. While the locals are insistent the players are acting justifiably, the path back to harmony for the West Indies is a two-way process. In fact, it was the strike by Bravo that led to the Cricket Board suffering huge debts from the BCCI. Conversely, it is time for the Board, the players and the locals to stop viewing the limited overs team as completely separate to the Test team. It is time for them to rally round the West Indies, no matter what the format is.
