Withdraw, Sir Hilary

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, principal of the Cave Hill campus of the UWI and a director of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), is a leading historian, administrator, cricket luminary and advocate for reparations for persons of African origin. Recently, Beckles gave a lecture titled 'Frank Worrell: The Rise and Fall of West Indies Cricket'.

A lecture is usually well researched. Therefore, Beckles' lecture was not a slip of the lip. He was not caught off guard. Beckles is quoted as saying, "Frank Worrell is the Father of the Nation, Sobers is the King of Cricket, Clive Lloyd is the Statesman, Richards is the General of the Army, Brian Lara is the Prince, and Chris Gayle is the Don." (The Gleaner, May 12)

By that statement, it appears that Chris Gayle is to blame for the fall of West Indies cricket, because all the other captains have been given glowing epithets and Gayle only is a don, which has a negative connotation when associated with Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. This is unfair, as it could be argued that the dominance of world cricket started under Clive Lloyd and stopped after Sir Vivian Richards gave up the captaincy as the only WI skipper never to lose a Test series.

Beckles also characterised the West Indies Under-19 team as "very smart and bright young men" not wanting to emulate Gayle and Marlon Samuels. The innuendo could be that smart youngsters do not want to emulate Gayle/Samuels or that Gayle/Samuels are not smart like the youngsters. Additionally, Beckles should have kept the youngsters' information confidential. 'Is not everything good fe eat good fe talk.'

But most troubling is comparing Christopher Gayle to Coke: "the movement from the father to the don, and those who follow him and his cohort in the team do relate to him as their don." Apart from both men sharing the same first name, there is no evidence of other similarities. Coke is alleged to be the head of the Shower Posse, which is known for murders, drug dealing and the illegal trade in guns. No one has alleged that Gayle has committed serious crimes. It seems that Beckles wanted to highlight what he perceives, or others perceive, as the unhealthy influence Gayle has over certain members of the cricket team.

Change Metaphor

Therefore, though Sir Hilary tried to cool tempers in a clarification last weekend, saying he had meant no offence, he should summarily withdraw the comparison with donmanship and Dudus and use different imagery.

Beckles needs also to provide the evidence of unhealthy influence, bearing in mind that Darren Sammy, the present WI cricket captain, praised Gayle for influencing the team's good performance in a recent World Cup match. Is Beckles hinting at mercenary qualities? Paradoxically, Sir Hilary also said, in that lecture, that in 1948, Frank Worrell refused to go with the West Indies team to India on tour because he wanted to be paid the salary of a professional sportsman. Therefore, Worrell could be seen as the forerunner to the West Indies Players Association!

Equally frightening is the assertion that "the West Indies Board is trying ... to uproot this donmanship out of the culture in much the same way that the Jamaican people are trying to uproot Dudus from their politics". How is this policy being implemented? The WICB must clarify whether the statement is true and not only say Beckles was speaking in a personal capacity.

Finally, even if Gayle's teammates relate to him as a don, the meaning could be that of a strong, influential or premier leader, rather than a nefarious strongman who needs to be extricated from the organisation.

Sir Hilary should heed the friendly advice of our minister of sports, Olivia Grange, and withdraw the comment.

The Rev Devon Dick is an author and Baptist minister. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.