Resolve off-Field Issues Now, or Watch Cricket in the Caribbean Wither and Die

The messy scenes on Friday that ended with the cancellation of the West Indies’ tour of India were just a further sad indictment of the current state of the game in the Caribbean, which has been in decline now for the past 20 years.

However, unless the administrators and players can fix these off-field issues, and quickly, then the once-dominant Calypso Kings will never again return to their position as the No.1 team in the world which they held from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s.

And while there are now a series of very public finger-pointing exercises taking place between all three parties involved in this ugly pay dispute—the West Indies Cricket Board, the West Indies Players' Association and the players themselves—blame can be apportioned equally.

In fact, none of the trio in question comes out of this spat particularly smelling of roses, with the players—despite ODI captain Dwayne Bravo speaking of a “grave injustice,” per ESPN.co.uk— still, for some unknown reason, waiting until the tour got underway at the beginning of this month before raising their concerns about the new pay structure that was agreed in September.

Meanwhile, the WIPA has been accused by some—including former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding in an interview with Sky Sports­—of not doing its job properly in representing the players during their negotiations with the WICB.

But perhaps most culpable of all in this whole fiasco is the WICB and its president Whycliffe "Dave" Cameron, who fatally prevaricated when it seemed fairly clear to all just how serious the tete-a-tete was between Bravo and WIPA president and chief executive Wavell Hinds in the early stages of the tour.

And when Cameron and Co. finally decided to act, “instead of trying to sort the problem out they have just decided they will take the stumps, their bat and ball and go home,” said Holding, giving “little thought to the future of the game, the players and the long standing relations between the BCCI and the WICB,” according to BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel.

This is not the first time, though, that the West Indies players have gone on strike following a dispute with the WICB over pay, with ex-skipper Chris Gayle and 12 of his team-mates missing Bangladesh’s victorious Test tour of the Caribbean in the summer of 2009 for similar reasons.

Consequently, there is a real worry about what the long-term ramifications of this whole situation may be back home in the West Indies, as with cricket crowds already at an all-time low, the last thing that the sport needed right now was another reason for fans to stop following their national team.

But that is exactly what is likely to happen if, as seems possible, a solution to the current impasse over the signing of the players’ new agreement regarding pay and conditions cannot be reached soon.

While the WICB may have scheduled an emergency board meeting for October 21 in Barbados in order to determine what the "ramifications" will be of the players’ decision to return home early from India, the team were due to fly to South Africa immediately after the end of the third Test in Ahmedabad next month.

And now there is even talk that not only will the West Indies fail to send a side to take on the Proteas in three Test matches, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game this winter, but they could also pull out of next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, according to Tony Cozier in an interview with ESPNcricinfo.

However, that is the very last thing the team who won the first two World Cups, as well as going unbeaten in a Test series between 1980 and 1995, needs at a time when they are languishing down in eighth place in the world in both the International Cricket Council’s Test and ODI rankings.

So the message to all involved is simple: Unless you get your house in order now and sort out your off-the-pitch problems, then the game that used to proudly be both the soul and heartbeat of the Caribbean will wither and die.

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