Dey mek muh shame

Suh shame I cant even look wunnah in the eye taday den.

I remember one calypsonian saying that "Carnival is Bacchanal and Bacchanal is Carnival" well substitute the word carnival with cricket and you would have accurately defined West Indies cricket. Everytime I am convinced we have turned a corner or there is at least no way things can go bad at a particular juncture I am rudely jolted back into the reality that the code by which West Indies cricket operates is synonymous with Murphy's Law; " Anything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong."

Its really disheartening to a fan like me to have to deal with West Indies cricket. Sometimes I duz get vex and want to give it up, actually scratch sometimes make that frequently or nuff nuff nuff times. Sigh!

I mean how something as seemingly simple as signing a contract to go to training camp can suddenly turn into what could potentially be the biggest labor dispute in West Indies cricket history is beyond me. Didn't the Board know that various players were signed to C&W contracts before they signed a contract with Digicell? Couldn't this issue have been solved without all the drama? Any of these people ever hear of discussion and compromise?

All that is happening is that West Indian cricket, its management and players are making themselves look like royal jackasses in the eyes of the world while we the fans look on with feelings of sadness, bitterness,anger and frustration. And all this coming not long after we managed to finally hold our heads up high for the first time in quite a while in celebration of the win in the ICC tournament. One step forward two steps back as usual.

Is it too much for us fans to ask that the WICB be run professionally? Is it too much to ask that we try to settle issues amicably? Is it too much to ask that the organizations involved do their due diligence beforehand so that these disasters do not arise in the first place? What kind of incompetence exists in the WICB anyways?

Here we have a situation where 15 players have been removed from the list of 24 invitees to training camp and will not be allowed to tour Australia because they failed to sign contracts. They failed to sign the contracts because of a disagreement with one clause which is seen as a bit heavy handed. Basically its about well its rather complicated actually dealing with the rights to intellectual property, competing cellphone companies and probably much much more depending on which association is speaking at the moment. Check this link for the Players latest statement.

Anyway of the 9 players left only two were probably guaranteed spots in the final squad so basically we will be sending a B team to Australia and its not like our full strength squad is that great to begin with anyhow. Oh well maybe the team sent will be able to gain some experience and contribute something useful in the future. Actually of the 9 players that signed apparently one is the vice captain of the Players Association. So much for solidarity in the ranks.

We have heard many times about the insularity in our cricket and how the team was divided seemingly along national lines. This divide of players who signed contracts and those who didn't also isn't good for Windies cricket. It can only add to the divisions in the team when this debacle is finally resolved. Of course there is rumor that the signees may back out and support the guys who didn't sign. Can you say lawsuit!

So how will this situation be resolved? It has gotten way out of hand. Can it be resolved? Is this the end of West Indies cricket? Nope! Counter to popular belief West Indies cricket is still more than Brian Charles Lara so West Indies cricket will continue. However this incident could be a disaster which causes as much damage to Windies cricket as natural disasters have done to the region of late. A disaster from which Windies cricket will take years to recover.

And is what we really fighting bout when ya look at it carefully? We fighting over which phone company name going on a man jersey. Boy I real shame fa true.