By Paras Ramoutar, IANS
Port of Spain : West Indies cricket needs everyone support, says the board’s new CEO Dr Donald Peters.
He told the Caribbean Media Workers’ at their annual general meeting Tuesday night that West Indies cricket was in danger. He added that that it was no longer possible for the burden of fixing or saving West Indies cricket to be the sole responsibility of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
“Each of us, every West Indian, should be involved in the quest to return West Indies cricket to cricketing supremacy.”
Peters continued: “The role of the media in reviving West Indies Cricket and how the WICB and the regional media can partner to improve cricket in the region and subsequently take us back towards the top of international cricket is also important.”
He agreed with many of the writings and criticisms in the media about the demise of West Indies cricket, and cited three reasons for this decline.
“We did not have a plan for replacing the great players like Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Joel Garner and even Brian Lara; the Board of Directors is not a homogeneous organisation and is largely dysfunctional; other organisations improved while we were at the wheel.”
“Whatever the reasons,” he said, “we need to improve our ranking as our first priority.”
Peters felt that there is a disconnect between the players’ present culture and values and that of the nostalgic cricketing public, including the WICB, the regional media and the legends.
“The regional media can help define the role of cricket as a professional sport and the economic benefits to be derived by players who enter the lucrative path of international cricket,” he noted.
“We at the WICB plan to work with regional higher education institutions to encourage them to award cricket scholarships to athletes and I am confident that universities and colleges in the region will play their part in providing scholarships.
“But the media can play a significant role by encouraging our youth and other governments to make cricket a priority sport in their territory,” he added.
Peters also touched on the “national insularity” which is a difficult barrier to surpass.
“Our players are young and impressionable and that means they can be tentative – in that kind of environment, young people do not feel loved or appreciated. I can assure you through my conversations with them that they are all proud to be playing in the rich legacy of West Indies cricket but from their perspective, here is how they feel.”
“They believe that the legends, who they admire, and whose big shoes they are trying to fill have no confidence in them or no time for them. They believe the media is especially hard on them.
They believe that the public has essentially given up. They believe that the Board does not respect them or proud of them,” he added.