Cricket, the Caribbean’s Happy Place

by Sheldon Waithe

?

Shhhh, whisper it quietly; the West Indies men’s team can once again bring unified joy to the Caribbean region.

Fleeting though it may be – a solid four weeks of action, skill, intrigue, guile, fireworks and excitement - hosting the T20 World Cup has come at an opportune time. It remains to be seen whether the region maximizes the opportunities in the aftermath.

Local leisure industries recovering from the pandemic or taking steps into offering new forms of entertainment to the world, such as sustainable tourism, now have a boon on their doorstep and an elevated window to showcase their nation to the world.?

The rapidly expanding gang culture that leaves regional security forces stumped (yes, yes, it’s a cricket article after all) has changed the overriding mood of the Caribbean people. Despite the daily smiles, the hearty greetings, the inescapable warmth of its population, the proliferation of guns and murders has infiltrated every Caribbean state, with little on that beautiful horizon to suggest that a reversal will occur anytime soon. Naturally, the people of paradise are worried. In this regard, the World Cup is less of a distraction and more of a welcome release.

Align those two positives to the potential boost for Windies cricket itself. This tournament comes hot on the heels of the Caricom Regional Cricket Conference hosted by Trinidad & Tobago a mere six weeks ago, where the frankness of the discussion, especially from our legends of the game, was a welcome change from the usual public relations spiel and mamaguy of turning the corner.

The leaders of local and regional cricket claimed to have listened to the impassioned pleas, pleas that represent the passion for the game that still exists, even if the under-utilized turnstiles state otherwise. Pleas that prove that there is still the ember of yesteryear’s Windies cricket glory, waiting to be fanned into a flame once again, if it is done correctly. ?

In the immediate aftermath of that conference, even before the first ball of the World Cup was bowled, a first step was taken. Was it an emboldened step, replete with the forward thinking that throws off the shackles of antiquated thinking and misdirected focus?

Well, the announcement confirming the building of a brand-new cricket academy in Trincity, is more of the old perspective that somehow bricks and mortar will create sporting champions. Worse, it makes a mockery of both the billion plus dollars spent on the Brian Lara Cricket Academy and the last word in that facility’s name.

Add the new Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Balmain’s National Cricket Centre and the sport’s traditional home, the Queen’s Park Oval, and T&T has an abundance of riches when it come to cricket stadia. It also has an abundance of cricket talent that can be properly harnessed with adequate funding focused upon the development of the player, but perhaps the deciding factor is that there is much greater profit in new-builds rather than simple restoration.

It’s about using the human resources and creativity of our unique cricket culture to attract the 21st century fan, to build tribalism and by extension, feed the next generation of players to the regional teams. The Caribbean Premier League has done it by making their event a grand party, in many ways copying the Indian Premier League, which in turn borrowed many of the attractive elements from Caribbean cricket.

Between the music blasting from Chickie’s speakers in Antigua, the ever-present hum from Blue Food’s conch shell, or the razzmatazz of the Stanford 20/20 complete with stump bails that lit-up, West Indian cricket gave the world the blueprint for the festivity of T20. Now it has come full circle and returned to our shores.? ?

Give credit where its due, the World Cup promotional efforts have been very good, while the attempts to get a foothold in the lucrative American sports sector hint at the right type of ambition supported by Cricket West Indies. But the more immediate focus must be upon the reemergence of Windies cricket, not just as a global force at the elite level, but as a sport that is once again interwoven into the regional psyche. To take us to the Caribbean’s happy place with the unity where joy in Jamaica is replicated at the same time with bliss in Barbados, for the overall wellness of the archipelago.

Hopefully there is a succession plan that taps into the aura of this World Cup, born of the West Indian way of watching cricket – a euphoric shout as a wicket falls, grand exclamation as the ball clears the stand, audible disbelief at an almost impossible catch – with its revelry and rhythm.

So, while we await the great progressive leap forward, there is world class cricket to be enjoyed, with the smaller initial step that a winning West Indies team is crucial to any long-term plans bearing fruit. The Windies becoming the first host nation to lift the T20 World Cup is a great place to start.

Rovman Powell’s squad have all the necessary ammunition; the captain exudes the quiet confidence of his coach and double World Cup winning captain, Daren Sammy, to ably unleash both the Josephs, Pooran, Russell, King, Hosein and Hetmeyer. Players that can light up a sport and send its supporters around the world into ecstasy.?

Winning will be difficult, but regardless of the outcome, for four weeks we have the pride of a region unified to take on the world, on home soil. Rally!?

Sheldon Waithe is the Creative Director at Communique Media Services Ltd website: communiquett.com

??

?

?

?