WHAT DO THEY KNOW OF CRICKET THAT CRICKET ONLY KNOWS

By Richard Blackford - Guest Blogger
To my mind, one of the greatest pieces of Caribbean literature is the seminal “Beyond a Boundary" written by the legendary Trinidadian writer C.L.R. James. First published in 1963 the book traces C.L.R. James’ passion for the sport as a boy in his native Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean where he spoke his passion for the game, of the players that he knew and loved even as he dissected the psychology and aesthetics of this great game. James’ great work laid bare the ethos of being West Indian and the extent to which West Indies Cricket provided that cementing that West Indians needed at that period of our development as we moved as a people onto more distant shores. I recommend this book as required reading for all of us as West Indians especially to those who would dare to don the colours of the regional side and especially to those who aspire to represent the game as administrators. I say this as my Fortis alum Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron reclaims the chair as President of the West Indies Cricket Board for a second two year term and with the hope that he may surprise me by actually doing something different than his previous two years where his stewardship has only succeeded in dragging the administration of the sport to newer lows and in lock step with a team that has made itself completely comfortable in the cellars of the sport.

By voting Cameron back into the seat as President the “old boy’s network” that characterizes the voting process has not only succeeded in thumbing its collective noses at the people in the Region who makes the sport but in the process they have also rubber-stamped incompetence as well as provided unbridled support for the continuance of the culture of indifference and insularity within the Regions game. The West Indies Cricket Board answers to no one (as is the requirement of the sport’s governing body the ICC) and as such relationships within the region are maintained by considerable “horse-trading” manoeuvres between island representatives and in essence the result of the vote known long before the ballots are casted. In the end camps will win or lose while the game and its future is vanquished with succeeding votes and in the process the great legacy that was once West Indies Cricket is trampled underfoot.  

Surely now that the farce of voting has passed the WICB has to decide on how to address the BCCI’s bill of $42 million caused by Cameron’s decision to pull the plug last year on the Indian Tour. How this issue is dealt with will have significant impact on how the WICB funds its various programmes going forward and certainly any plans for laying a foundation upon which we can raise up a crop of players capable of representing the West Indies.
I want to be magnanimous and say congratulations to Dave Cameron but that would be hypocrisy on my part. To my mind Cameron has won because of the paucity of management talent within the sport. The omnipresence of the sugar plantation structure from which the game originated provides a buffer against attracting people capable of making the type of change necessary to reorient the decadent thinking that now embraces the sport’s management and has become even more entrenched in the last twenty years. He has won because as a people we have all become accustomed to not taking responsibility for our actions to such an extent that we are equally unprepared to hold others who we know are culpable for their own misdeeds. 

So where do we go from here? What tricks does Cameron have in his bag that will at least attempt to halt the slide? What will the administration bring to the sport that will cause West Indians like myself to begin to fall in love with Caribbean team’s participation? What will this administration do differently to make C.L.R. James famous words ring true throughout the region and the wider Caribbean diaspora…”what do they know of cricket that cricket only knows.”

As always, one love and walk good until next time!

PERFORMING “THE LAST RITES” ON WEST INDIES CRICKET

By Richard Blackford - Guest Blogger

In less than 12 hours the process of voting for the position of President of the West Indies Cricket Board would have been completed and either Mr. Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron would have been returned for a second two year term or Joel “Big Bird” Garner would have been elected as President. Whatever happens, one thing will remain steadfastly clear; West Indies Cricket cannot continue on its current disastrous course. For if we are to make an honest assessment of the game in the Region, the single adjective that comes to mind is “disastrous.” Regardless of which of the two contenders for the top position winning, the question that we should ask ourselves is whether or not either contender possess the capabilities to extract the Region’s game from its current precipice on which it is teetering.


In my opinion, Dave Cameron who ascended the position two years earlier and with much fanfare has done absolutely nothing for the game during his tenure. His inauspicious involvement in the debacle that resulted in the abandonment of the 2014 Tour of India should have been enough to disqualify him from further participation in the administration of the sport thereafter, but of course the West Indies Cricket Board reports to no one, not least of all the fans. Veteran commentator Tony Cozier’s unflattering description of Cameron states “In Cameron’s two years as ultimate boss of West Indies cricket, its standard, reputation and financial status has plummeted ffurther to unthinkable depths” and anyone with an interest in the sport in the Region and following the regional game in the last 15 years would find it difficult to disagree.

Joel Garner comes to the “Vote” with very little beyond his glittering reputation as one of the games deadliest fast bowlers during his playing years. Beyond roles as an Assistant Manager on a Sri Lankan tour in 2010, Garner has served as President of the Barbados Cricket Association. There is very little else to recommend him as the ideas he has presented in his “Manifesto” states in part: “The Territorial Boards are key resources in West Indies Cricket. As such, we must work with these Boards and all our stakeholders, including WIPA and the players, corporate organizations and CARICOM, among others, to create effective partnerships in order to build a strong, unified, accountable and well-governed organization capable of bringing West Indies Cricket, on and off the field, to a position where we are once again a respected force in world cricket. The WICB will be respected as a high quality cricket playing entity, both men and women, and respected as a business organization, capable of efficient planning and implementation, to keep pace with the dynamism of the modern business environment within the sport.”

The Manifesto targets areas such as cricket development and performance; governance; finances; administration and management, along with the priority action to be taken. Overall, the promises are nothing different than what has been proposed previously and my guess is that unless a more radical approach to the role of the Board id adopted it will simply be “business as usual” regardless of who prevail come March 7, 2015.

The challenge is made even more pronounced by the submission of a bill for just under $42 million by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as compensation for losses suffered by the abandonment of the West Indies tour of that country last year. The facts related to this issue has already been made public and one thing that is clear is that however they intend to address this, it will be a mill-stone around the neck of the West Indies game for a while to come. West Indies cricket has been the best advertising of the Region as a whole for more than 87 years and what is needed at this time is broader more inclusive vision from the administrators. While still a major sport, cricket has lost its appeal among the masses within the region especially since the demise of the West Indies as a competitive aggregation in this world sport which began with the Waugh brothers’ demolition job at Sabina Park on May 3rd 1995. Thus began the longest losing streak of any team in world sport with neither players nor administrators having any workable ideas of how to not only cauterize the losses of the unit but also to put together a structure designed to develop a pool of talent in the islands and by extension the game across the region.


While I am gutted by the disaster that has become the West Indies Cricket team, I must say that I am not surprised. In fact it has been nothing short of a virtual miracle that West Indies cricket as an institution has survived this long. From the very beginning the sport in the region has been dogged by racial and territorial insularities. Prior to 1950 only the so called “Big Four” territories Barbados, Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad represented the region and team selection as well as Board representation reflected island dominance with Barbados and Trinidad enjoying most representation. Further, the “old boys” network underpinned the WICBC structure with very little if at all any involvement by the regional governments. This was the platform on which the game developed and claims of insularity were pushed aside by the team’s generally favourable fortunes during this period.

Between 1962 and 1982 though the state of affairs changed dramatically as the sport in the region came into the cross hairs of the sweeping movement towards political independence among the islands. These changes coincided with the professionalization of the sport globally which not only changed attitudes among the membership of the WICBC but also among the players. During this period, playing West Indies cricket became a profession and while we developed the roots of our strength we also began to sow the seeds of our own demise. The first open conflict between the players and the WICBC reared its head in late 1978 when the Clive Lloyd led players were barred from playing for the regional side because of their emerging contracts with Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. This matter was only settled when the UK Privy Council ruled in favor of WSC with Lord Slade’s judgment that the actions of the Boards including the WICBC was an illegal restraint of trade. This became the genesis of antagonism between the Board and players and in all cases matters affecting the two groups were always addressed without interference from the governments in the region.

In the circumstances the WICB and its charges co-existed as any mistrustful but interdependent unit would. It was this state of affairs that piloted the upgrade of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) as the bargaining unit for the players. At the same time the culture among the Board was being cemented by marriages of convenience between sub-regional membership blocks who colluded to determine its leadership composition. The result was the continuation of the “old boy’s network” underpinned by a different model of insularity. West Indies cricket under such circumstances meandered along as two interdependent but somewhat independent entities. This has been and continues to be the problem and no amount of proposals laid will halt the slide until the two groups appreciate that they answer to the fans and the sponsors, not themselves. The WICB must take full responsibility for its failure to own its responsibilities headlined by developing and managing a structure for the game in the region. This is the challenge for the WICB comes March 7, 2015 and on the basis of current experiences I have to wonder if this election isn’t really the “last rites” on a dead West Indies as a cricketing region.

As always, one love and walk good till next time

Jamaica. Music. Jazz... and the whole nine yards

Jamaica and Jamaicans have a long and decorated history with music and quality live entertainment, after all this little island gave birth to a whole musical genre called reggae and with it, bonafide global superstars like Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Aswad, Shaggy and so many others.

One of the most sought after events staged in Jamaica every year for the past 18 years is the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival. I say sought after because there was a time when it was the hottest ticket in the Country, if you didn’t have a Jazz & Blues ticket, you would have just missed the best event/lyme of the year, simply because the best performers came to Jazz.

This little Island, hosting its signature event each year have been able to showcase a long list of superstars:  Gladys Knight, Maroon 5, Natalie Cole, Diana Ross, Kenny Rogers, Anita Baker, Hall & Oates, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Maxi Priest, Babyface, The Whispers, Joss Stone, Monty Alexander, Billy Ocean, Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige, Dionne Warwick, Estelle, Lionel Richie, George Benson, Chuck Mangione, Smokey Robinson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & The Gang, Boyz II Men, Micheal Bolton, Jill Scott, Brian McKnight, Atlantic Starr, India.Arie, Norah Jones, Harry Belafonte, Julio Iglesias, Patti Labelle, Air Supply, Al Green, Queen Project, Mary Mary, Lou Rawls, Erykah Badu and Céline Dion. OMG it is safe to say we’ve see it all.

A few weekends ago, I attended this years staging of the Festival and along many patrons hoping to see multi-platinum, grammy award winning Mariah Carey for the first time on Jamaican soil. To say we were left totally disappointed would be a terrible understatement. Mariah was a colossal failure, she didn’t perform most of her hit songs, she spent most of the time off stage changing her wardrobe, when on stage, she couldn’t pull one note and try as she might on a couple of occasions, it just wasn’t there and to cap it off Mariah lip synced through more than half of her performances. It is safe to say, at least for me to say that of all the artiste who have been to Jamaica and as you can see, it's been a lot; Mariah performance must be ranked as one of the worst. Do these artiste and promoters get it that consumers and patrons are paying top dollar to attend these events and they have an obligation to entertain and give the paying audience value for money?

Dear Jamaica Jazz Festival, we know you get majority of your patronage from folks who live on the other end of the Island in Kingston. Some of you readers may ask yourself why is that important and the answer is simply, COST! For a Kingstonian to attend the festival they must rent a hotel room in the tourist City of Montego Bay or Ocho Rios, the cheapest of which may cost US$200 per night. A full tank of petrol is at least US$100. The cheapest ticket at this years’ Jazz Festival to see Mariah’s performance or lack thereof was US$120. By now you can see a patron is down this rabbit hole for US$380 for one nights' performance and I haven’t factored in food, drinks and if they decide to take their significant other, which I am sure they did, that figure just got tripled.

While I think that artiste who come to Jamaica and take our fans for granted owe the Jamaica public an apology, I cant put all the blame at their feet. In fact, the organizers of the festival have totally lost my confidence and doubt very strongly I will be going back to another staging unless there is significant changes including the venue. The logic to my personal position are numerous and so in the interest of time I am will list a few. 

Firstly, for the last three staging of the festival, the organizers have struggled to put together a proper line up and one just have to look at the dwindling attendance to understand and agree with this view. Secondly, the ticket prices are now completely out of reach and unaffordable which also contributes to the dwindling attendance. Thirdly, what made Jazz & Blues in Jamaica a must have ticket annually, was the intimacy and closeness of the venues used prior to its move to the Trelawny Stadium. Securing a venue the size o the Trelawny Stadium to host the festival was a brilliant move but with perennially poor line ups and increasing ticket prices, what we have now is not a festival, it’s an expensive flop.

Save and except for Morgan Heritage whose performance was interrupted by rain on night #2, Charlie Wilson and Pointer Sisters on night #3, Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival 2015 would have been a complete waste of time. It was actually embarrassing to see the handful of patrons who turned out on the first and third nights of the festival, if that isn’t enough of a message to the organizers I am not sure what will send them message home to them. To add insult to injury, increasing the ticket prices every year to compensate for disappearing sponsors and not addressing the quality of the show, is a sure recipe to lose the support of hard core music affectionados. Afterall, for us it is more than just an artiste that appeal to us music lovers, we want the complete package like we are use to and nothing less is acceptable.

All in agreement say AMEN!

One love as always

Find me: 

Twitter Maninja2 | Facebook Donovan White | Google+ Donovan White | IG Maninja2

Not in love..... Just in like!!! Ready…. Set.... GO…. Thoughts of a Novice Jogger!

Greetings friends and loved ones, it's been a while since I gave you anything to chew on... lol. So my good friend Keisha Holman moved to America some years back and from time to time we connect for a conversation ob Facebook and of course she is one of the most devoted readers of my blog rants. It seems that all this while, Keisha was being inspired by my running and fitness exploits and now she wants to share with you how running has started to change her life. Ladies and gentlemen, wherever you are in the world trading today, meet my good friend and first time blogger... Keisha! 

“fuuuuhhhmmm…. huuuuhhmmmm…..”

“suuuuhhhhmmmm…. huuuuhhhmmmm….”

Heavy breathing, slow deep breaths. Panting, running, medium, heavy breaths.

On and on I go! Down the street I roam… Breathing in, breathing out….

Legs and lungs are dying, but, I am determined to reach my goal!

“Legs say stop, but my brain says GO!!!!!” It is still a love hate relationship... or should I say love like..... LOL! Gauging my route, psyching myself up.... Just me and my partners: asphalt, concrete, nature, GPS pedometer, and Pandora pumping in my ears..... "…Wi ready fah di roooaaaaddd...," such an appropriate song for the adventures ahead. Yes, I personally call it an adventure, some call it a ‘challenge’ (I do interchange at times)….. Whatever the crutch word, I shall achieve the goal, to becoming a pro jogger.

Reintroduction

I am a novice, having always had an interest in jogging, but did not know where to start really. I started a few times and during each tries, I stopped because I was out of breath. Hmmmmm…., that was a year and a half ago. During the days, weeks, and months of procrastination I have ogled, and dreamed of the great jogger I was, running 6 to 10 miles a day. My daydreams continued, and was prompted after admiring the dedication of Donovan White of Sonic Steppers Running Club in Jamaica, and my newfound friend Shon Gables of StaYoung Running Club in Texas. So in 2015 I'm overcoming the fear, that, plus I have been challenged. I reached out to her this year, and Shon set the tone for my adventures a head, to build on my endurance in short jogging sequences.

I am not one to back from a challenge, Yes…. I was dared… J J…. Aaannnddd…, I was intrigued by the incentives of quickly shedding fat, building stronger respiratory and cardiovascular systems, and the promotion of great physical conditions, not to mention appearance. After re-reading Donovan’s The Renaissance Man blog "Love, Friendship and a Passion for Running," and Shon’s lovely challenge, I am happy to report I started jogging since January. The choice was to either jog ten minutes (only) on a treadmill or jog four blocks (only), five times per week. I opted for the blocks, jogging around my community, with nature being my pull. The boredom of being a treadmill makes me gag. Furthermore, I am a water creature, jogging pass lakes and breathing in fresh air are more appealing than a sweaty gym any day.

I am getting to like jogging, and presently building on my endurance. Depending on the route I take, 4 blocks equate to 2.72km or 3.03km in 25 and 30 minutes respectively. So far I'm gaining strides, no longer at the run/walk phase and my speed is still steady, between 5km/h to 11km/h. I am now at the point of wanting to jog more than four blocks, but I know I am still not ready, my endurance is still a work in progress.

Work In Progress

I am still learning, and with continued help from the pros, I will definitely get there! One factor that keeps me focused, is setting practical, clear, realistic goals. I am currently researching the proper running shoes, though I am overwhelmed, my mentors have directed me to some great finds.

Working on my endurance five times a week have given me the willpower to overcome this limitation. My breathing will be my greatest challenge yet! I am still learning the proper form of breathing, and working out which breathing pattern is the right form for me. Considering I am a novice, and my pace is still quite slow, I am working on the pattern that is in tune with my pace, whether 3-2, 2-3, 2-2 or 2-1. The 3-2 or 2-3 pattern seems to be the winner so far, the others I gather are for the faster pace, professionals of this art.

The next item of business is diet. As the saying goes, “abs are made in the kitchen,” my clean eating is on point, 30% gym/workout to 70% diet. Repeat after me, if you are not eating clean, jogging or any form of exercise is useless! This is especially so if you have a set goal, such as, losing 10 pounds within a month, preparing for a 5k, 10k…, marathon, or aiming for optimal fitness / physical condition.

All in all, I have to creep before I can JOG…. LOL! I have started small and going slow, but will remain ENCOURAGED….. Start small, achieve BIG......! It is extremely important to express my great admiration to the pros. An even BIGGER kudos to those who jog long distance, in the cold, in treacherous conditions, etc. I remember jogging on a windy day in 59 degrees Fahrenheit weather, and my throat and upper lungs were on fire!!!! Anyone jogging below 50 degrees, deserves all the recognition!!!! Despite these odds, which I see as very slim, I will not be deterred. With Donovan and Shon on my side, I know I will start jogging 10 miles before the year ends. Their stamina and visible changes are enough motivation to not give up! I thank YOU!!!!

“Mental Will is the impetus to achieve… NEVER GIVE UP!” ~ KSH

Find Keisha Holman at:

IG: @epicurean_nerd  | Facebook Group: FITness Tank  | Facebook: Keisha S. Holman