Someone must knock sense in hard-headed WICB
The WICB is bent on sending third rate cricketers to South Africa. Perhaps, the ICC, organisers of the Champions Trophy tournament or Digicel should have a quiet word with these madmen.
There was the old saying that the English would prefer to lose a battle ship than to lose a Test match. In the Caribbean today, the cricket ship is inking and nobody seems to care-least of all the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
The regional third string team is being walloped by cricket’s whipping boys, Bangladesh, and the WICB persists with the madness of allowing the team to be whitewashed while the regulars, who had, unfortunately, went on strike during the Two Test series have made themselves available for selection while the pay and contracts dispute is being mediated.
What is even more distressing is that the WICB disregarding this show of good faith displayed by Christopher Gayle et al and is insisting that the 30 preliminary players, which does not include them, will be among those chosen for the Champions Trophy tournament which will be held in South Africa in late September.
The hurt and pain being endured by millions of West Indian supporters here and in the diaspora, not to mention the monumental affront to West Indian pride, do not seem to matter one whit to the WICB. The history being made at West Indies’ expense by a team at the bottom of the international rankings appears to be of no consequence to these wise mean that make up this great West Indies Cricket Board.
Surely, the Board cannot be serious about omitting the regulars from the Champions Trophy tournament. Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo,Chairman of Caricom, who has, wisely, tried to resolve the dispute by agreeing to appoint former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal as mediator should have something to say about this mad plan as should the International Cricket Committee (ICC), hopefully through some quite diplomacy and, finally, Digicel, who have a multi-million dollar sponsorship agreement with the Board. Since the Board seems bent on disregarding the members of the regular team and public sentiment, someone will have to knock some sense in their hard, insensitive heads.