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Sports Talk With
John Melbourne
West Indies Under-19 Shortchanged!
On the face of it, the West Indies under-19 cricket team’s performance in the Malaysia World Cup was disappointing. Before being too critical of our youngsters, however, let us review the series.
Going into the tournament I thought the young lads were paid a disservice by not being prepared thoroughly.
I thought they played poorly during the KFC Cup. In fact, they didn’t really show me anything, yet the WICB didn’t appear to take the steps necessary to get them ready for the under-19 world championship. Obviously hind sight is 20/20, but the team should have been playing several games against a WI U-21 select team prior to their departure for Malaysia.
Besides being under prepared, the youngsters were drawn in the ‘Group of Death’, drawing India, South Africa and Papau New Guinea. They lost to both India and South Africa, the eventual finalists and went on to win the Plate.
Hadn’t they won the Plate we may very well be saying a lot less positive things about them, because they were the only test playing nation to end up in the bottom eight of the 16-nation world cup tournament.
Overall, the youngsters played well. In fact, even in losing to India and South Africa I thought there were times during those games when they were in a position to bring it home, but just came up short. And that I think result from a lack of preparation. Had there been more preparation, more repetition, the WI U-19 cricket team may very well have made it as far as the semi-finals.
Perhaps the biggest let down for this team was the non-performance of Adrian Barath. His bat was sorely missed. Silent may be more appropriate. Had his bat been working the WI U-19 world cup experience may have been a lot different.
Larry Gomes, the U-19 world cup team manager on his return to the Caribbean suggested that the squad be kept together and played as a team in regional competitions. That is not going to happen. But I hope in another couple of years or so we see guys like Kieran Powell, Sharmah Brooks, Steven Jacobs and Jason Dawes on a WI senior team on the rise to the number one ranked team in the world.
Packer Was Nothing
Me no know how we and dem a go work dis out. But someone has got to pay.
Do you remember when Packer World Series cricket showed its face several years ago and the divisions it created among cricket powers? Packer’s influence also forced changes to the game including player compensation, colored uniforms, cricket under lights, the white ball and instant replays. Well, folks, cricket as we know it is going through another metamorphosis right under our eyes.
And this is happening through the Stanford 20/20 tournament in the Caribbean, the Indian Premier League, both sanctioned by the ICC and the Indian Cricket League that is frowned on by the ICC. If Adam Stanford has his way, here comes the England Premier League.
Like Packer, these tournaments are doling out tons of money to players. Initially the lines to protect test teams were not clearly defined, and individual test boards were left to wrestle with the issue on their own. What happens when a tournament like the IPL conflicts with a test series? Now the ICC has brought some clarity to the situation by mandating that players must remain available to their test teams when called.
From a statistical point of view, test cricket is the yardstick used to compare cricketers. But this could be passé with so many One Day International and 20/20 games being packaged in tour series these days. To add salt to the wound, how often do you see a 5-test series in a tour package these days? So as I look into my crystal ball I see test cricket being the big loser in all of this.
This leads us to the question, is test cricket as we know it on its way out? Well, maybe not, but what do you think?
The ICC needs to step up to the plate and outlaw all these upstart cricket tournaments. They must take control of world cricket the way FIFA dictates world football. In addition, all cricket tournaments should be ICC run or managed by their representative territorial boards. That means no private organizations can put on a tournament sanctioned by the ICC or a territorial board. If a private organization wishes to fund or sponsor a tournament, fine, but that tournament must be run by the territorial board or the ICC.
World Cup Qualifiers
Jamaica begins their quest for the South Africa 2010 World Cup in June. They open at home against the Bahamas on the 15th. Unfit facilities force the Bahamians to forfeit their home date which will be played in Jamaica.
I don’t know if the romance with the little Brazilian is still hot, but much is expected from the Reggae Boyz and their “Back to Africa” movement. Granted the talent pool is much deeper than in 1998, but did Simoes have enough time to mold a winning unit for World Cup competition?
To qualify for 2010 not only must the Reggae Boyz win at home, but they must be able to beat Mexico and the United States and whoever else away from home. You may recall last qualifiers Jamaica played three home dates and of the nine available points the Reggae Boyz came away with one point. That certainly cannot be repeated.
Good luck Reggae Boyz.
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