Hilary Beckles laments 'misunderstood' comments

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Sir Hilary Beckles believes comments he made recently concerning former West Indies captain Chris Gayle have been distorted and has expressed disappointment in regional players union WIPA's actions during the controversy.

Speaking in an interview on the Line and Length Network on Friday, Sir Hilary contended that his remarks during the recent Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture in St Kitts had been twisted to create "an unfortunate, unpleasant and unsavoury image".

The UWI Cave Hill principal has come under fire in recent weeks from WIPA, which has claimed that he unfairly compared Gayle to alleged Jamaican crime boss, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who was recently arrested by Jamaican police authorities.

"First of all let, me say no comparison was made. No comparison whatsoever was made between the image of Chris Gayle and the images of other people who have become notorious," Sir Hilary said in an interview aired during the first day of the second Test between West Indies and Pakistan in St Kitts.

"That certainly was not a comparison made by me, it was not intended by me, it was not constructed by me.

"I believe that the presentation was edited, I believe it was misrepresented, statements were strung together to create what for WIPA was an unfortunate, unpleasant and unsavoury image."

wounding experience

He continued: "What I do regret is that it is had so much of an impact on Caribbean society, especially in Jamaica, and this has been a wounding experience precisely because I believe that WIPA acted in a fashion that is really unbecoming of an organisation that has the best interest of cricketers at heart."

During the recent lecture, Sir Hilary said: "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.

"And these are very interesting images indeed because the movement from the father to the don and, and those who follow him and his cohort in the team do relate to him as their don, and he has brought, it is said, the donmanship into how "tings" operate in the team.

"... And what the West Indies Board is trying to do at the moment is 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 ... the comparisons are very interesting indeed."

WIPA blasted Sir Hilary's remarks and called for his resignation as a director of the West Indies Cricket Board. They also wrote to UWI's chancellor and vice-chancellor urging an investigation into the noted academic's comments.

The outrage also spread to the airwaves and blogosphere in Jamaica, with some angry citizens demanding an apology from Sir Hilary.

Last week, he issued a statement saying he had "truly regretted" the anguish that had been caused in Jamaica.

upheaval

Noting he considered Jamaica his second home, having lived there for many years, Sir Hilary said he understood why the comments had caused such upheaval.

"What I have noticed though - and this is where I think that on reflection the language (I used) could have been different - is that the word (don) that has been used generically by most people in the street. (In) the present situation, that word now has a more sensitive meaning and therefore I fully understand how the community in Jamaican recoiled and that is precisely why I made my statement of regret," Sir Hilary explained.

"So my statement of regret was connected to the fact that I was misquoted, misrepresented, my statement was edited and it has created an undesired, unintended effect and that is really where I am concerned."

He argued that he was, in fact, a huge fan of Gayle and had strongly supported his elevation to the post of West Indies captain.

"What I did say was that in the context of Chris who has been a friend and I have mentored in many respects; I have campaigned for him, I lobbied for him to become a captain," Sir Hilary said.

"Off the field - I was not a part of the setup at the time but in my own kind of public way - I celebrated his achievement as a great cricketer and I did state that my comments were confined to the image of him on the field and in the context of the team. It certainly does not go beyond that.

"The statement I made later on that the public perception that a certain style of leadership is being uprooted and the comment made in respect of the Jamaican circumstance that the people of Jamaica are also uprooting a certain approach to governance, it was not meant to compare the individuals.

"Maybe if they had said it was a comparison of a perception of a need to change approaches, that would have been a fairer assessment."