Tony Becca
THERE ARE three kinds of West Indies cricket fans. There are those who believe that West Indies cricket is weak and say so.
Then there are those who believe that West Indies cricket is weak and do not say so.
Finally there are those who believe that West Indies cricket is weak but who, at the end of every series involving the West Indies, keep on saying that the West Indies are improving and that the light is just around the corner.
The question for those who believe that the light is just around the corner, however, is how long is the corner and which corner?
Every year, the corner either seems longer an farther away - and it has nothing to with the opposing teams getting better and better but with the West Indies team, except for a flash of brilliance here or there, getting worse and worse.
WORSE AND WORSE
Why is West Indies cricket getting worse and worse? Because club cricket is getting worse and worse. Until some attention is paid to it, until those who love cricket in the society get involved, until some money is pumped into the clubs so that they can survive and by doing so provide proper facilities, proper training, and proper guidance and grooming for young players, it will continue to get worse.
Right now, but for those who sponsor competitions for the clubs, no one is interested in the clubs - and competitions are useless if clubs, because of the lack of facilities and equipment, cannot prepare their grounds, cannot prepare their players to participate in them.
The clubs need help or they are going to die - and if they die, so too will cricket in the West Indies.
WEAK CLUBS
Right now, right around the territories, club cricket is so weak that in order to prepare their teams for the regional tournaments, the territories have no alternative but to bring together a squad of players under a coach for a few weeks in an effort to get them into shape and in good form.
And based on what has been happening in the regional tournaments in the past few years, and on what has been happening so far this season, that has been a failure - almost a waste of time.
In the four matches played so far this season the scores, against bowlers who are so weak that they cannot get into a weak West Indies bowling attack and on pitches that have been good for batting, have been:
The Leeward Islands 196 in 63.4 overs and 242 in 96.1 overs, Jamaica 223 in 80.4 overs and 212 for nine in 71.3 overs; Guyana 241 in 87 overs and 309 for nine in 114 overs, Barbados 394 in 140.5 overs; Jamaica 204 in 94.2 overs and 187 for seven declared in 65 overs, the Windward Islands 144 in 77.3 overs and 144 for eight in 81 overs; the Leeward Islands 171 in 71 overs and 131 for three in 81 overs, Trinidad and Tobago 271 in 102.3 overs.
TERRITORIAL TEAMS
It is the same thing with the West Indies team. The territorial teams, the competitions, are so weak that before every series the West Indies have to bring together a squad of players under a coach and his sidekicks in an effort to prepare them for the competition ahead, and that also has been a failure - almost a waste of time.
And it will continue to be so until the people who profess a love for the game get involved with the clubs, until the territorial boards and the West Indies board realise the importance of the clubs, and until every one involved with the development of the game understand that it is impossible to build from the top and that what is needed, what is necessary, is a solid foundation.
