The hoopla and fiasco around West Indies cricket
continues with no end in sight, all the time showing the current leadership of
the Caribbean side to be woefully incompetent and lacking in basic decency.
The
events of the last seven days have been a true revelation to what most of us
knew all along, yet we play footsy with the truth, there is no love lost
between Sir Julian Hunte – President WICB and Ernest Hilaire – CEO WICB, for the
Jamaica Cricket Association and right now Chris Gayle is the sacrificial lamb.
How else do we process and understand the events of the last few days.
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| The Rt. Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller Prime Minister - Jamaica |
Jamaica's Prime Minister,
the Right Honorable, Portia Simpson-Miller demanded and quite rightly so that a
resolution in the impasse between Chris Gayle and the WICB be found quickly.
The plea from the PM came at
Jamaica Cricket Association awards, Simpson Miller said, “Gayle was being
treated unjustly and deserved a place in the West Indies team.” She also
expressed concern that Sabina Park was not allocated a match for West Indies'
upcoming home series against Australia.
In emphasizing her point on the
issues sited, PM Simpson-Miller went on to say, "Justice delayed is
justice denied and we demand that a resolution be found as quickly as
possible," Simpson Miller said on the Gayle issue. "Cricket is too
important to the people of Jamaica and the West Indies for this to be left down
the wicket."
Darn right she is… DARN
RIGHT!!! This absolute stupidity being perpetrated by the WICB is a farce and
my deeper concern is why the other Prime Minister’s and former players across
the region have remained voiceless about this matter, particularly in relation
to the treatment being meted out to Gayle, is it so hard for them to see we are
and have been on a path that can yield nothing but continued failure and
ridicule for the regional side? Why isn’t there more outrage from the media and
fans around the region about this matter?
 |
| Ernest Hilaire - CEO, WICB |
The audacity of Ernest Hilaire to respond a Prime
Minister of any Country the way he did PM Simpson-Miller is downright rude and
out of order and as a Jamaican citizen, I deeply offended.
In his response Hilaire said,
"The WICB believes
that the Prime Minister did not have the benefit of the full information
pertaining to the matters on which she spoke," - In other words shut up
lady you don’t know what you talking about, how dare you Hilaire… How dare you!
"The WICB is further disappointed that
the relevant officials in Jamaica did not brief the Prime Minister that the
West Indies v Australia tour was, for reasons pertaining to scheduling and
weather, always slated to be played in the Southern Caribbean," the
release stated. In other words, why don’t you leave what doesn’t concern you… I
am getting pissed!
"She would have been informed that Mr
Chris Gayle has been written to by the WICB, clearly outlining the full details
of what is required of him. The WICB is awaiting a response from Mr.
Gayle." In other words, now stop wasting my time!
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| Sabina Park - South Camp Rd |
Each of the foregoing quotes pulled from the written response
from WICB, have been subsequently refuted by the Jamaica Cricket Association.
Will we ever know the truth?
Doubt we will get an answer to that. What I do
know for certain, Jamaica has no weather issues in March, April or May that
would have caused a scheduling problem for hosting a fixture during the Australian
series, coupled with the fact that Guyana who were originally selected to host
a test match, would have been at the tail end of their natural rainy weather
cycle… somebody seem to have their wires crossed here.
 |
| Sabina Park |
That wasn’t the only wire being crossed either, Hilaire said,
“the JCA should have told the Prime Minister that Jamaica was selected as a
host venue for the New Zealand tour in July.”
Well believe it or not, JCA President
Lindel Wright says, “this was never communicated to Jamaica Cricket Association
prior yet he (Wright) sits on the board of the WICB…” weird isn’t it?
If Hilaire is indeed lying, why should we believe
anything he says about the impasse with Chris and the WICB? Well it is clear
that most people don’t believe you Ernest Hilaire and you need to come clean
and admit that you blew this whole episode with Gayle out of proportion, and
now it’s too far gone for you to eat humble pie and do the right thing. Let’s
not forget Hilaire, Chris in response to your edict for an apology last year
October, asked and quite rightly so, for the WICB to state clearly what is he apologizing
for or in other words, what is he charged with. Surely, that can’t be too hard
for you to understand, yet to date you’ve been silent.
 |
| Chris Gayle |
I have said before in published pieces that if Chris did
something wrong he ought to be punished and the punishment must fit the crime,
who is to say the WICB wouldn’t have received an apology already if Gayle was immediately,
at the time of the infraction (whatever that was), referred to the disciplinary
committee and the matter handled accordingly, after all, isn’t that the process
in the WICB code of ethics.
It is strikingly obvious to me that the WICB has erred on
this one badly and it’s too embarrassing now to do the right thing. Instead it
has resorted to bullying a player by preventing him from playing and in the
process punish the fans of the Caribbean from seeing the best West Indies
eleven play. Whether you want to believe it or not Hilaire, Chris Gayle is the
most feared batsman in the world today in any format of the game, yet we
continue to discard him because of yours and the Board’s ego, selfishness and
insularity.
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| Sir. Julian Hunte |
I believe the time has come for Ernest Hilaire to be fired for
bringing the game into disrepute and the entire board should step down for
sitting idly by and allowing it to happen.
It would be instructive that Caricom
Executive Director is asked by the regional stakeholders to assume temporary responsibility
of the WICB and conduct a full audit of the boards business and practices with
a mandate to implement the necessary changes needed to put right the perennial issues
that have plagued West Indies Cricket for decades.
THIS
NONESENSE HAS GONE ON FOR TOO LONG NOW, HENCE IT IS IMPORTANT THAT IF YOU ARE
READING THIS BLOG AND HAVE AN OPINION, BE IT FOR/AGAINST MY OPINIONS, THAT YOU
LOG YOUR FEEDBACK BELOW.
I really do hope that continuous pressure is applied to the WICB so that this does not happen ever again. His response to the Jamaican Prime Minister was rude and disrespectful and he should not be allowed to get away with it. It is because of leaders like Ernest Hilaire why the region's cricket is in the state that it is currently in.
ReplyDeleteWe remain hopeful Kesreen but everyone must play their part in applying the pressure to rid the sport of these people whose interest is clearly in sync with the betterment of the game.
DeleteSince it is known that they aren't in the business of winning, let's see if they succumb to the external pressures of regional leaders. His rebuttal to The Honorable Prime Minister of Jamaica shows even more a deep-seated vengeance he is waging against West Indies cricket by putting his ego first. The real gear grinder here is Digicel! If I'm not mistaken they pay a tidy sum to have the team sport their logos and carry their name across the world. That said, Digicel need to step up and exercise their out clause if they refuse to put the best team on the field at all cost. After all, who wants to be paired with happy losers in a sponsorship deal. That will force all those knuckleheads to resign and open up positions for people who are interested in winning again.
ReplyDeleteI'm not here to agree or disagree whether or not Chris should apologize but if it takes months to answer the question of what he is to apologize for then obviously the case is weak. The WICB has lost all ten cases against the WIPA and are currently losing this standoff while continuing to tumble in the world rankings.
Fire them all and start from scratch...after all that's where we are on the field...Scratch!
It is one thing to be incompetent, but to be rude and disrespectful to no less than a Prime Minister in the region is untenable. The silence of sponsors, media and former "great" players is unbelievably deafening!
DeleteInsularity in West Indies cricket has been with us as a people since our humble beginings in the sport from as far back as 1928. The problem therefore is not a new one, but one which is now supported and led by self-interest born out of the same channels that have governed the sport for decades. The WICB has never really ever been democratic and its officers and membership has always been derived from the "old boy network" principle and buttressed over the years by exchanges of favours.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that as West Indies cricket has declined, this culture became more entrenched. The sport in the region drew its strength from the fans, and unfortunately the management of the game in the region has never had to report to either the fans nor the governments of the Caribbean. The best demonstration of that is the WICB's response to the (P.J) Patterson Report. This contrasts with the $450 million (US) spent by governments in the region to build and otherwise upgrade facilities to host the ICC 2007 World Cup with no committment from the WICB. There is no fiduciary responsibility of the WICB to the governments and people of the Caribbean, and unfortunately our own Jamaican representatives on the WICB are (wittingly or unwittingly) parties to the current state of affairs. Prior to the PM's expression of outrage, the JCA has never addressed the Gayle issue, and neither has Dave Cameron who is a VP on the WICB. It is therefore not expected that they would raise any outcries against the current WICB stewardship as in principle they are a party to the current state of affairs.
LOL Richard Hugh Blackford's arab spring pro-democracy as an approach to the ills of West Indies Cricket... that would be like using a hammer to kill flies. The problems in the administration of the sport is the darn thing doesn't have an owner which ought to have been the the people of the Caribbean. Guess what we don't and no body knows who does. It is partly why I suggested the Caricom Executive Director should asked by the regional stakeholders to assume control and effect a complete a forensic audit and provide recommendations for a complete restructure. The alternative is a complete boycott of the games in all territory but guess what, if nobody attends the games, the WICB wouldn't be affect financially because of the broadcast rights agreements and sponsorship, series profitability is guaranteed before a ball is bowled. This is why Hunte and his merry men remain so cocky and disrespectful to the public and players alike.
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