As Jofra Archer instilled fear on the Australians in the second Ashes Test match at Lord's, with high-quality bowling, both in pace and attitude, many West Indians turned away in anger.
Archer is Barbadian by birth and played youth cricket in the region. In fact, he still loves Barbados as a great holiday resort. Unfortunately, reports have suggested that an injury as a youth player and neglect by the authorities, whether in Barbados or at West Indies Board level, led to his disillusionment with the Caribbean. England has clearly been the victor and as Australians all around shudder in fear at Archer’s name, it was interesting to hear former England players Nasser Hussain and Ian Botham compare Archer to legendary West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts.
Roberts has always been described as the fastest ever West Indian bowler, whose bouncer was considered the most dangerous ever, and many in England are comparing Archer’s deadly bouncer to be falling in line with Roberts’ of over 40 years ago.
However, we must address what went wrong with Archer, and we must and should, to ensure this does not happen again. This is not athletics or football, where that happens all over the world with regularity. It was in the past rather rare to have this happening in cricket, but given the success of Archer and the terrible state of West Indian cricket administration, more youngsters may be leaving the region.
All one has to do is to listen how much the English administrators appreciate Archer, in what they are doing for him, yes they are using him to win and be successful, as evidenced by their speed to introduce him to the eventual ICC World Cup team. We have been made to understand that with bonuses and other incentives along with contracts and endorsement, Archer could earn upwards of US$4.5 million in just the next three years as an English cricketer.
Interestingly, Archer’s rise to prominence has come from his forays in T20 cricket.
Yes, Cricket West Indies (CWI), you heard correctly, T20 cricket. Unlike us, the English cricket authorities did not “pigeon hole” him and ignore him while he was being successful in the most spectator popular form of cricket (T20). This is just another example of the quality of thinking at the highest level in sports compared to what exists at the present in the region.
The CWI chief executive officer is Johnny Grave – an Englishman, and I believe that if he is allowed to perform his duties as a professional, then there will be some progress. However, somewhere and somehow, persons it would appear have had their own view on the future of West Indies cricket and contrary to many others, their wishes reigned supreme.
While Archer was recovering from his performances in the recent World Cup in Barbados, I have to wonder what was going through his mind, as he relaxed and took in the sunshine and seas in his country of birth. I believe this mild-mannered young man felt the pain of a country – Barbados – that turned its back on him. Because whatever wrongs may or may not have occurred at the West Indies management level, one has to believe that the Barbados cricket authorities could have intervened, if they so desired.
It would be worthwhile to engage such to find out why and I can imagine the likes of my friends – Andrew Mason, Haydn Gill and Ezra Stuart – seeking out such information but struggling to receive clarity of voice.
I may be wrong here but time will tell us more.
As it stands, Archer, our Caribbean-born Archer, is no longer a West Indian player. Instead, he is England’s and let us hope that the hard and bitter pill which we have to swallow as a result of this will not be a sign of things to come, but rather the minority effect of poor decision making by our cricketing authorities. Grave and his team at CWI must seek explanations and find solutions to prevent as much as possible, the loss of such talent from disillusionment and prevent the sometimes West Indian contempt at the highest level for inquisitive youngsters with relevant questions. The youth today is not those of the ’50s ’60s, 70’s or ’80s who will easily accept anything from their elders. The world has changed and with it, the advent of real-time information and opinion.
So as we wave Archer goodbye and all the best going forward (except when he plays against the West Indies), we need to be aware of the dangers of neglect and ill will against all our young cricketers in the region. It is time for cricket administrators to put away their petty jealousies and favouritism and seek the good of the sport. And yes, I know that may be asking for too much at a time went it appears ingrained in the cricket culture in the region. I truly hope that both CWI president Ricky Skerritt and vice president Dr Kishore Shallow understand what their roles encompass and what self-less rule means …but only time will tell. We are five months and counting now.