I write to share a cricket aspiration for the Caribbean region.  It is a shame that a substandard regional cricket team is representing the Caribbean on the cricket world scene. The West Indies Cricket Board has once again inflicted upon us the stressful burden of inferiority in a playing field where we were once superior to those now superior. Today we are beaten and trampled at the hands of the weakest test outfit, recently Bangladesh.

How long will it take for cricketing authorities in the Caribbean to come to their senses? The Governments of the Caribbean are considering stepping in again to resolve deep conflicts, clean up the mess and restore some sense of pride for the people of the region. But obviously all that was done in this regard seemed merely superficial, not lasting and a failure.

Often one hears that cricket is the only thing that binds the Caribbean as one people.  It is quite interesting that this tie binds or should bind the region reeks of inferiority and weakness and seem to be at its lowest ebb . One wonders if the difficulties of Caribbean integration politically and economically in CARICOM  at this time in the midst of so many conflicting events in the region have something to do with the downward spiral of the cricket team that represents it. Or is that a mirror of it?

The question at the heart of it all is why should there be just one team in cricket that represents all the English speaking Caribbean? In soccer, for example, this is not the case and each of the Caribbean national teams makes us proud when they do well on the world scene. Indeed they have improved tremendously over time. In track and field the fruits of the national programs have made us in the Caribbean proud. While they represent their individual countries, they in fact also represent the wider region.

I believe it is about time that the region looks at nurturing more national test teams. This will open the way for more global exposure and competition for more players in the region and raise the standard overall in these parts. Look at what has come out of countries like New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and Kenya that have embarked on cricket long after the countries of the Caribbean region. Most of these would humiliate the once mighty WI these days.

There were times up to fairly recently when each of the first class national sides were strong enough to stand their ground against test teams. It appears that the regional system of cricket and its management has allowed this to dissipate leaving us one dissenting but weak team and one consenting but weaker team to represent the WICB, not the countries of region. When one looks at the progress of teams like Scotland, Ireland, Afghanistan or Namibia in the ICC, it is frightening to think that sooner or later, the dismal WI team will have to show some mettle against them and could further be humiliated.

It is high time that the key cricketing countries of the region invest in their local programmes and competitions with a view to building their own test teams for the future. They should start planning for international competitions within and outside the Caribbean first class structure to encourage, expose and strengthen more of their own players.

Perhaps they should get involved in the ICC competitions and move through those ranks as individual national teams even at this late stage. Why should we be the one to continue with a regional team when there is little regional government investment into the sport or sports in general?
J. MAHASE