“And you may ask, why is it important for us to want a reinvigoration of West Indies cricket?
It is because our Caribbean nation is lifted when we win, when we play well, and we are depressed when we don’t do well in cricket.”—Dr Keith Rowley, T&T Prime Minister.
Last week’s two-day Caricom cricket conference, entitled Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket – A Symposium for Strategic Collaboration and Innovation, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port-of-Spain saw Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr Kishore Shallow in an open forum receiving some profound opinions and ideas.
Three key takeaways from the conference were the importance of change in the CWI governance structure, the review of the CWI 50-year contract with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and calls for the use of legislation.
Dinanath Ramnarine, former West Indies cricketer and president of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) recommended that acts of Parliament be amended to require that regional boards be structured in a transparent and accountable manner. This is a recommendation that should be adopted as a matter of urgency.
In fact, it should apply not just to cricket. Too many sports organisations and national governing bodies use “the act of parliament” as a shield to facilitate a culture of corruption, mismanagement, misappropriation, and malfeasance.
Fast bowling legend Michael Holding called on Caribbean heads of government to “pressure” the CWI board into restructuring its governance model.
One of the points Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley made is the need to be able to separate the business of cricket and the development of cricket. This particular point I myself made when the TTOC established the Sport Industry TT conference in March 2016. The business of sport and sport development demands different mindsets and skills.
Sport in the Caribbean is fundamental to the sustainable development of youth and young people and Caribbean societies. We cannot continue to “bury our heads in the sand”. Good governance matters. The business of sports matters.
Prime Minister Rowley, the host of the conference, and chairman of the Caricom prime ministerial sub-committee on cricket, spoke about the “cultural and emotional significance” of cricket in the Caribbean, linking national pride to the performance of the team. This can be said about sports in the Caribbean, in particular football and the Olympic sports such as aquatics, boxing, cycling and track and field.
One of the fundamental qualities young people learn from sport is teamwork. Teamwork empowers a group of different individuals to come together to accomplish an overall objective.
Being an effective teammate both on and off the field of play requires good communication, self-discipline, decision-making, and accountability.
Participation in sports builds communication and listening skills with teammates and following directions from a coach.
In sports, while natural talent is important, success requires hard work, and hard work takes discipline. You maintain focus in the face of distractions, you learn self-discipline by committing and showing up to practice (even when you don’t want to), and focusing on being the best version of yourself.
Making quick and decisive decisions is essential in sport during the course of a game or match you learn to make rational decisions while performing under pressure.
Accountability motivates young people to work toward the team’s success rather than only thinking about themselves. Sport teaches personal responsibility and helps them understand that mistakes can happen, and how to correct mistakes.
The question can be asked have Caribbean sport leaders forgotten these lessons or is it they never learned them in the first place?