Sunday, December 16, 2019

THE GLEANER, MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2019 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | SPORTS B5 T HE ANNOUNCEMENT by veteran Trinidadian all- rounder Dwayne Bravo that he is ready to come out of international retirement in time for the next year’s Twenty20 (T20) World Cup to be played in Australia is hardly surprising to astute observers of Windies cricket. Bravo, who last played a T20 International in 2016, sub- sequently retired from interna- tional duties in 2018. In keeping with the recent play- book however, Bravo said that hav- ing spoken to coach Phil Simmons and captain Kieron Pollard, as well as Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt, he thinks it is now time to end his sabbatical. Skerritt’s plan, which is clearly not a vision, has been clear, unso- phisticated, and simplistic from the moment he stepped into office: undo everything that his prede- cessor, Dave Cameron, did, end of story. This is a less-that-subtle reminder that Mr Skerritt is indeed a politician who is simply lending a political hand, political practices, and political norms to the running ofWindies cricket. The centre piece of the Skerritt plan is, of course, to re-engage an entire generation of ageing cricketers with a view of these players, who are well past their best, rescuing and reviving the fortunes of the region’s cricket. Whereas the Skerritt plan could conceivably work in St Kitts and Nevis’politics with a group of sen- ior citizen politicians and civil serv- ants, this policy is doomed to fail in sports. Contextually, as well, this particular core of players currently being resurrected as a rescue unit for Windies cricket, even in their prime, had very little, if any, posi- tive impact on the overall fortunes of the region’s cricket. Truth be told, the very Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons, et al were of that generation of Caribbean cricketers who sought to use Windies cricket at their conveni- ence. Their loyalty was always to their various T20 franchises around the world while representing the Windies when they chose to. That was just the reality born out of the worldwide evolution and changing face of the global game. In all this, Father Time waits on no one, and the myopia of Skerritt’s plan ignores the fact that Bravo will be 37 next year, Pollard, 33; Ramdin and Simmons, both 35; the yet to be retired Chris Gayle, 41; and Daren Sammy, also lurking in the wings will be 36. This core cannot be the platform fromwhich the future of the region’s cricket is launched. FLIRTING WITH DANGER It is foolhardy, downright petty, and disastrous for the region’s cricket for Mr Skerritt, in his quest to counter everything Cameron did in his tenure, not to realise that the future of West Indies cricket would be better served if placed on the shoulders of the next gen- eration of players and not with this current group. Truth be told, Ricky Skerritt never had a clear vision for the long-term future of West Indies cricket. His ascension to the presidency was more personal, political, and insu- lar than is was cricket-based. It is now becoming as clear as day that the current president is no better for West Indies cricket but indeed is arguably worse than those who came before him. Mr Skerritt needs to under- stand that West Indies cricket, at its current juncture, needs forward thinking, not backward thinking. It needs an invest- ment in the future, not throwbacks to the past. It needs visionary leadership and not petty vindictive reactions. It needs a brand-new crop of young stars – and not a gathering of geriatrics. Skerritt’s geriatric plan Dwayne Bravo FILE FOLLOW THE TRACE Oral Tracey ‘It is foolhardy, downright petty, and disastrous for the region’s cricket for Mr Skerritt, in his quest to counter everything Cameron did in his tenure, not to realise that the future of West Indies cricket would be better served if placed on the shoulders of the next generation of players and not with this current group.’