Outsourcing to Blame for Latest Fiascos

West Indian cricket fans were supposed to be purring over their decimation of the English batting line-up and contemplating their latest renaissance. They might recall their victory over South Africa in the 2007 Boxing Day Test, only to lose the series 2-1.

Antigua, though, would provide the answer to whether they have made serious improvement. Instead it provided another explanation for the decline of West Indian cricketing culture.

The 2007 World Cup witnessed huge investments in the Caribbean’s cricketing infrastructure. Sabina Park which hosted the first Test against England is a magnificent stadium; though it’s a pity its size means that it looks more than half-empty.

In Antigua it was decided not to redevelop the Recreation Ground but build a new state-of-the-art ground out of town at a cost of £40 million.

Apart from the obvious problem of access for local supporters, the stadium is built in a valley on swamp ground. Since the World Cup there has been only one match played there, the drawn Test between West Indies and Australia last May.

This contest exposed problems with drainage, which was rectified with liberal proportions of sand—the cause of the problem in last Friday’s aborted Test.

The ICC has immediately apportioned blame on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the case against looks quite damming. No regional cricket is played in Antigua any more due to lack of funding and support, yet grounds are supposed to host a regional game prior to a Test match, in order to ready the pitch.

This could be put down as rank negligence but is a worrying sign of cricketing authorities outsourcing their obligations and commitments. For the WICB are not the authority for the Viv Richards stadium, it comes under the management of a government-appointed committee.

Antigua is not unique in this set-up. The Barbadosground, which hosts the next Test, is managed by the Kensington Oval Management Inc, which has little cricketing expertise. Its square was so damaged during a festival last year that none of this season’s regional first-class matches have been played there.

There is talk that the Viv Richards ground will never stage a cricket match again, whilst the best ground for cricket in Antigua is owned by the Texan billionaire Allen Stanford who is in dispute with the West Indies Board.

Stanford is the beneficiary of the WICB outsourcing their twenty overs competition to commercial interests in the hope that he will fund regional cricketing interests. However, Stanford, whose company is currently under investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the US, is looking to downsize his commitments to cricket.

It is believed that his Twenty20 tournament between a Caribbean XI and England will not happen again.

The Indian Cricket League is also feeling the economic squeeze and has cancelled its World Series Twenty20 tournament, scheduled for March. In addition, payments to players have been put on hold. Any chance of survival rests with ICC recognition which is hoping to be sorted at a meeting on February 21.

In its way, as always, stands the Indian Board and their Indian Premier League (IPL) which they seek to shield from all competitors. A further worrying sign of the over-arching influence of the IPL is their sanction against Pakistani bowler Mohammad Asif, who has been banned for one year for a doping violation.

The ICC has confirmed that whilst they are still to consider Asif’s case that they expect all Member Boards to adopt the ban. The problem here is that the IPL seem to be formulating policy outside their area of jurisdiction. Under current ICC regulations, for example, all steroid violations attract a two-year suspension.

There are numerous problems with outsourcing, notably who takes responsibility when things go wrong as they inevitably seem to do. When commercial interests are involved it falls to the taxpayer to bail out the gamblers. Outsourcing of policy though has the potential to cause irrevocable harm to democratic structures and the essence of what the sport stands for.