We are privileged to wake up in the morning and also to go to bed at night. It is during our waking ours that we choose to do good deeds or otherwise, on which basis God judges our day. No doubt Runako Morton (RM) performed good deeds last Sunday and planned to do more the following day had he lived, and while he may have pleased us often on the cricket field, perhaps his last and best gift was giving us a wake up call to reflect on our lifestyle and help others before it is too late. How many can claim to have listened to and genuinely helped RM when he most needed assistance and empathy? I know for certain that Dinanath Ramnarine (WIPA) and Chris Gayle earned his gratitude in tough times. The media has been full of positive tributes to RM, several no doubt genuine and deserved, but how many of those compliments were said to him or about him over the years when he needed to feel cared for and helped psychologically? Five or six years ago I wrote about the pleasure his batting gave me, as at the time he was not only scoring runs but doing so in a most attractive manner. I remember mentioning that he played "straight" and hit in the "V" area (between mid-on and mid-off) more often than most, an ability/habit which ex-England captain and brilliant batsman Peter May claimed was a sign of someone who knew how to bat.
About three months ago I chatted with RM at WIPA offices and admired his openness and trust in dealing with personal issues. He expressed deep remorse for what he had done wrong and hoped his world would forgive him. Now RM has left us for a better place and we pray for his soul and family in their time of sadness. Perhaps we can honour RM best by establishing a fund to ensure his three kids keep going to school without ongoing financial hassle-school uniforms, books, supplies and transport if needed. If 3000 QPCC members donated $100 each, the fund would total $300,000. WIPA could then focus on staging an event to help with his home mortgage. If we want to show RM that we appreciated what he did for West Indies cricket, let us do something practical and meaningful for his family, rather than a symbolic tribute to him which will soon be forgotten.
Rest in peace Runako, and thank you for the runs you scored for West Indies – they will always be in the scorebook so your memory is assured.
Gibson's appraisal
It was interesting to listen to past Antigua Prime Minister Lester Bird's outspoken comments about WICB and coach Otis Gibson – telling it as he sees it! Having written what I did about Gibson when he was appointed, it would be interesting to have him do a self appraisal of what he considers to be his achievements, so the knowledgeable cricket public can agree or disagree accordingly. The only problem is that one should write an appraisal based on a job description and when I called for such, I do not think it ever appeared. If I am wrong, I apologize. On the same theme, when I was Special Adviser to our PM in 1989-91, I often suggested that every Minister who travelled to mystery conferences in far-off countries, should list the benefits of the trip (performance appraisal) to justify the time and expense when money was almost non-existent, but making that happen was NOT one of my achievements! "Performance" is not a major consideration in politics which accounts for the usual turnover in MPs, Ministers and Governments. Incidentally, the Caricom world is obviously changing when our two female Prime Ministers are publicly criticising WICB at the Heads of Government meeting and the male PMs are far from the headlines. I am not optimistic about the outcome unless both women have a working knowledge of world cricket trends and the history of WI cricket administration and personalities which I doubt.
The point I am trying to make above is that "performance" is one criterion in the area of sport governance. Other criteria are fulfilling expectations, maintaining standards and making a positive difference. The world of professional sport is a perfect example of how the game works. Check Chelsea Football Club firing eight managers in eight years, the latest after only eight months in the job. If you can't fulfill agreed expectations in an agreed given timeframe, then pack your bags! I simply ask if Otis Gibson performed; fulfilled expectations; maintained standards and made a positive difference since his appointment as WI coach. If his employer WICB can demonstrate "yes" to the above, then I will suggest that Mr Bird stick to commenting on long jump. On the same issue, why was Assistant coach David Williams suddenly replaced by Toby Radford? Did he not perform, meet standards or fulfill expectations? Will we ever know? Does David Williams know?
Messi's handful
It was wonderful watching Lionel Messi score five goals for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen in a 7-1 victory and a 10-2 tie aggregate in the UEFA Champions League. Even more fascinating was the absolute annihilation and humiliation of the German team, demonstrated by the following statistics: (a) each team ran 116 km during the game; (b) ball possession-Barcelona 70 to 30 per cent (c) completed passes-Barcelona 865 ( 83 per cent of all passes) to 217 (60 per cent of all passes). The half time stat for completed passes was 316-112 in favour of Barcelona-incredible! For the Spaniards, Ces Fabregas and one other player each completed over 100 passes in the game. Such analysis is most revealing and is the first world technology we are up against trying to get to the World Cup?
Making a point
It was also interesting to examine the rankings of T&T athletes on IAFF World Indoor meets and to appreciate the importance of one hundredth of a second in top class competition. Examples: (a) 60m where top ranked Trell Kimmons' best is 6.45 seconds; #2 Lerone Clarke at 6.47; #11 Richard Thompson (T&T) at 6.56; #36 Keston Bledman (T&T) at 6.62; #48 Marc Burns (T&T) at 6.64 and #132 Jamol James (T&T) at 6.72. In other words, 0.19 seconds is the difference between #s 1 and 48 and 0.27 seconds separates #1 from #136. (b) in 60m hurdles, top ranked Dexter Faulk at 7.40 seconds against #55 Wayne Davis (T&T) at 7.74 and Durell Busby (T&T) at 7.79. (c) In 60m hurdles for women, #1 Tianna Madison at 7.02 and T&T's Semoy Hackett ranked #101 at 7.36 seconds a difference just over half a second. I hope my math is correct!
There are examples in other events, so when our athletes are privileged to be granted Elite Athlete status, they must accept that T&T is behind the eight ball when it comes to training techniques and technology and should appreciate the magnitude of the challenge to become world class. With the above in mind, we must congratulate cyclist Njisane Phillip on his amazing ride at the Pan Am Cycling Championships in Argentina, winning the Gold Medal in the sprint event and putting himself ever closer to riding at the London Olympics in July. No less congrats go to young Quincy Alexander for his Gold medal in the 1K Time Trial. The fact that T&T is a dot in the ocean, does not limit the size of a Trinbagonians's heart and successes like Njisane's and Quincy's fill us with great pride. Great cycling guys-know that the nation is behind you!
Congrats to Australia for beating Sri Lanka in the final of the Commonwealth Bank Tri Series. All three of the matches were hard fought and it will be nice to welcome the Aussies next week. They always bring out the crowds.
Have a good week and God bless you and yours.