The bloodline of cricket

We lost the first Super Eight match against England in a clinical encounter that brought a harsh dose of reality. A match report here is not rele­vant. Suffice it to say that while the batters are more willing to take singles, there are still far too many dot balls: 51, on what has been a more favourable surface for batting than most others in the World Cup tournament so far.

West Indies still have to play South Africa and the USA, and they have to win in order to be one of the two teams from the group to qualify for the semi-finals.

This is the stage where vulnerabi­lities will be pounced upon, and we cannot imagine that a strategy where someone has to come out and play a blinder is a feasible plan.

All of the teams that have qualified for this round have demonstrated their strengths and weaknesses and there is nothing to suggest that any of the upcoming matches will be walkovers. We would have played the USA yesterday, and I have no idea how that match turned out, but given the way that team has performed, they will be intent on making their presence memorable.

USA cricket has had a long period of gestation, most of it unnoticed because of the lack of resources to build it. With the formation of Major League Cricket last year, the development has been phenomenal. We know the genesis of that growth: immigrants. We know where they come from; most are from the established Test cricket nations, and they have pedigree. Probably more important, they would want to show their lineage to the lands of their ancestry; they would want to pay homage to their traditions; and signifi­cantly, to establish their presence in the grand old USA. It hasn’t been easy for them to be accepted; has it?

Earlier this week, the Columbia Journalism Review magazine published an article headlined, “The US is hosting a World Cup. You (probably) haven’t heard about it”. It focused mainly on the role of the media in putting cricket on the radar of a population more interested in basketball and baseball.

The team beat both Canada and Pakistan in the early stages, “a result that members of the international sporting press hailed as one of the greatest cricket upsets in recent memory [Pakistan], maybe ever… ‘US Scores Historic Cricket Win’, the Times wrote in a headline, ‘but Only Pakistan Notices’,” was the CJR report.

Over at Al Jazeera, where they were dubbed the “unexpected darlings” of the tournament, the question was “How did a team of a motley crew of cricketers become world beaters in two weeks?”

The article says that when USA Cricket (USAC) was granted ODI status by the ICC in 2019, and the waiting period for players to qualify was reduced from five years to three, they went on an immediate recruitment drive.

They pulled in the former Australian player, Stuart Law, to be head coach, who took up duties in May, and here is his plan.

“We have got to try and ‘Americanify’ this whole cricket thing here in the States,” he told Al Jazeera.

This statement caught my eye, because I have no doubt that this will be significant for the direction of cricket.

Perhaps India has already dramatically changed it, and the formula will be similar: broadcast rights, sponsorships, mega stars, and of course World Series championships (okay, so Kerry Packer already did that), but you know how Americans like to brand everything with them at the centre. And they have the resources to do it on a large scale.

With West Indies cricket still lacking adequate funding, and trying to jog the invisible conscience of the ICC regarding more equitable sharing of finances, there is an ominous undertone to this.

Already, the distribution of matches to regional stadia has become increasingly sparse (alongside the quantity of Test allocations), and soon it is possible that these may find themselves gobbled up by US venues. Compare the crowd attendances at regional venues and those in the USA.

When Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali, warned that it was a development that ought to be of concern to the region, he urged a shift in the way West Indians market the game as a counter. Among his recommendations were strategic emphases on Caribbean culture. Carnivals, cuisine, climate, music, hospitality, parties—all peripheral elements—but designed to capitalise on the commercial aspects aligned to tourism.

From fairly early in its history, West Indians have transformed the global game, infusing those characteristics and bringing excitement, colour and festivity.

West Indian players have a distinctive style, too. It isn’t only in the remarkable collection of bling that makes one wonder how they are not physically hurt when they run and dive with heavy gold chains clanging down on them. I wonder if you gathered them all and weighed them what it would tally! The flamboyance, the swagger goes back a long way; don’t think it is a recent thing at all. I was idly observing that of all the players in this T20 World Cup, only West Indians had hairstyles with vivid streaks of colour—Hetmeyer displays the most bravado with his fuchsias and blues.

There is a true brand identity that defines West Indian cricket; is it enough?

With a series of wins, interest has returned, maybe that might be the game shifter.

—Author Vaneisa Baksh is an editor, writer and cricket historian.

E-mail: vaneisabaksh@gmail.com

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