Cummings, Grange say it boldly and clearly

Tony Becca, Contributor

Over the years, I have travelled many a road, I have interviewed many people, I have listened to many speeches, and I have read many things about sports, about Jamaica's sports and West Indies cricket, but hardly anything compared with what I heard during the past week.

On Tuesday night, at the University of the West Indies, at the Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture presented by Australian writer, Mike Coward, I heard Dr Christine Cummings, lecturer at the university, say loudly and clearly for all to hear: "We (need to) construct West Indies cricket urgently or the entire project known as West Indies cricket will end up in the dustbin of history."

On Wednesday night, at The Pegasus hotel, at the annual Courtney Walsh Award for Excellence where Dr Neil Gardner won the award, I heard Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, minister of youth, sports, and culture, representing Prime Minister Bruce Golding, say, again for all to hear, "that Government must not run sports, but it should be involved in some areas of sports."

I was happy that I was present at both places on both occasions, I was overjoyed to hear those two influential women, one an educator and one a politician, saying those words, and I wished the entire West Indies, including the West Indies Cricket Board and the entire Jamaica, heard them.

Speaking on an occasion to remember, on the impact of Sir Frank Worrell, not only on cricket, not only on the 1960-61 tour of Australia, which included the first tied Test in the series rated as the greatest cricket series ever, but as a man, Dr Cummings, whose topic was 'Deconstructing the half century since the Tied Test', said that, sadly, the board did not prepare for the revolution that was to come.

"Fifty years after the Tied Test, we do not have one Test cricketer with an average above 50 - apart from Kirk Edwards, who has played in one Test, 50 years after the Tied Test, board members now fight, literally, to win elections, from the Tied Test to 1995, the West Indies have won 98 Test matches and lost 48, from 1995 to today, the West Indies have won 30 Test matches and lost 81, and from the Tied Test to now, we have had 20 captains, 12 since 1995.

Undisputed champions

Between the Tied Test and 1995, noted Dr Cummings, Garry Sobers held the world record for the highest individual score and Brian Lara followed; the West Indies produced great players like Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, and Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, and Malcolm Marshall, and a list of others, and they became the undisputed champions of the world.

Those were the good times, said Dr Cummings.

"The board, today, is asking us to wait - and to suffer - five years, while they build a team," said Dr Cummings.

"Since then, we have failed as a region. Today, our kids do not know anything about our great history. Indeed, our current cricketers know little or nothing about our history. Both our cricketers and our boards, national and regional, are more concerned about money. There is no respect shown to cricketers and they show little to board members," continued Dr Cummings, as cheers rang around the room.

The university lecturer ended by taking a swipe at the politicians for doing nothing in the fight to save cricket.

"Politicians pay lip service to cricket while doing little," she said, and while paying tribute to Scotiabank for supporting West Indies cricket through Kiddy Cricket, Dr Cummings criticised the politicians who, in the name of budget cuts, abandon even form and house matches.

On Wednesday night, Minister Grange, to the delight of many people, hinted that the Government would help sports, but would not try to run sports.

"It is clear that, because of the nature of the economy, our sports federations would not achieve their goals without public funding," said Miss Grange.

The minister then went on to say that sports associations have a tendency to bid to host events without notifying the Government until after everything has been decided.

"Because of that, we have had some challenging situations at times, and this sometimes can be a disaster. Such a method can work, but it can only work if central government is engaged from the beginning.

It was at that time that Minister Grange mentioned a policy to deal with the hosting of national and international events, a policy which she called a fully-developed policy, the details of which will be announced shortly and which she hopes will end all the problems.

"Sports is a great thing," said the minister. "It makes us work hard, it provides discipline, it calls for team work, it calls for dedication to task, and it makes Jamaica great, especially because of track and field and especially because of the three Ts,"

"The Government," she added, "supports sports, all sports. It supports some 40 sports associations, including synchronised swimming, rugby, hockey, skiing, and surfing," and that pleases her, especially when she said, confidently, "I am a dreamer, I believe in the ability of Jamaicans, and I believe that, in a few years, Jamaica will be among the main nations in rugby. We can do it."

Those were great words by two intelligent women, some of them have been said before, especially those dealing with the future of West Indies cricket and those dealing with government and sports, but not so boldly, not so loudly, not so clearly, and not with so much passion.

I hope the bosses of West Indies cricket will heed Dr Cummings' words, particularly those dealing with the five-year plan, the suffering, and the dustbin, and to those of Minister Grange, particularly when she said that the Government must not run sports but should be involved in sports.