West Indies lack effort, not funds

As in life so also in sport there will be ups and downs Itrsquos what is done during the ups that can often determine how the lows can be dealt with Make no mistake there will be downs as certain as night follows day and if there have been supreme highs then itrsquos a huge effort to try and cope with the downs Dealing with the downs shows character and gives a better chance to climb up from the depths of the lows back to the highsThe glory daysThe West Indies teams in the 1960s to early 2000 were the best cricket team in the world Yes the Australians as usual were tough competitors but the Windies were regularly beating them and showing the world what pace like fire meant Besides that they had batters who were the envy of the world Destructive openers followed by some of the greatest murderers of bowling attacks be it pace or spin Those days there was not much infrastructure in the Caribbean Their cricket grounds were small with a clubhouse that substituted for the pavilion whenever an overseas team came to play The practice pitches were not always great and some of the facilities could definitely have been better Yet with all these lesser facilities at their disposal compared to those in England and Australia the Windies were defeating them with easeThere was a hunger to show the world what they could do despite not being first world Even though they had the odd white or mixedrace player in their ranks the desire to show they were no less was there Nothing exemplifies this better than the early days when the great legend George Headley was referred to as the Black Bradman the people of the Caribbean responded by saying ldquoNah maan dat Aussie batsman is the White HeadleyrdquoThe main industry in the Caribbean is the tourism industry and there arenrsquot too many corporate opportunities for players as are available in the subcontinent or in England and Australia So playing for the West Indies was also a means of putting food on the table There was never a guarantee of a place in the team unless you performed well So there was never a relaxation of the mind and the attitude was always to go out and give your best so you could be picked for the next Test match too Every game played for the West Indies meant extra income apart from the English county or league teamsrsquo contracts for the Windies players of those days Today with stadiums in virtually every Caribbean island and players on guaranteed central contracts the Windies players canrsquot or wonrsquot produce even a flash of the performances of the pastAll this talk of shortage of finances is just a distraction from the simple fact that the effort level is simply not there There is no shortage of talent At the highest level itrsquos always the temperament that matters more than ability As for finances every three or four years the share of ICC revenue gets more and more and yet the performances hardly ever give rise to the optimism that the Team has turned the cornerContracts dulling hungerThe question therefore arises whether the hunger is dulled by guaranteed income because of central contracts Would doubling or trebling of match fees and doing away with guaranteed contract money do the trick As it is the better players are preferring to play the white ball formats and not make themselves available for the red ball teams If the players can also be given more for every 10 or 15 Test matches that they play it could be an incentive to give a bigger try than the listless efforts that are generally seen with guaranteed contract income Yes the pathways to Test cricket have got a bit cobbled but with funds saved by doing away with guaranteed contracts these can be paved better for future generationsThe West Indies can get back to winning ways The usual saying would be ldquoIt is all in their handsrdquo but shouldnrsquot it read ldquoItrsquos all in their mindsrdquo Professional Management Group