I just realized today that despite the fact that I follow sports religiously (like most men) I've never really wrote enough articles about sports, ok yes I've written a few but not to the extent that I usually do. I dunno maybe its all this school work I've been doing. Anyway I will be honest, I haven't been paying much attention to the current Austrailian tour by the West Indies. However I dont need to be watching to realize that WI are doing poorly. Yes we managed to draw the second test and are hoping to attain victory in the 3rd test but the fact remains WI cricket has been on a downward slope since the glory days of the 70's, 80's and early 90's.

But there is that question as to why this is happening? People will first cite that its the quality of players that have fallen, there is no regional development program to ensure cricket continues to strive... Well I dont know about the rest of the Caribbean but I disagree with this as far as cricket goes in Jamaica. Jamaica still has highly contested cricket leagues from the schoolboy level to the club level. I'm so sure I can in fact be sure when I state that STETHS won this years Headley cup (under 19 cricket cup). Also our club competitions are still pretty much there with melbourne and kingston club still in bitter competition with each other during the season... So I disagree about no developmental level cricket.

Then there is the other argument that its all the WICB's fault. The regional cricket body has basically been screwing up WI cricket by turning the running of the institution into a boys club where only certain people will be allowed to participate at the top level and basically placing the youths (ie the future of WI cricket) into a state of limbo as they dont know what to do with their talent... Well the newspapers speak for themselves. The WICB has been screwing the pooch, poor management and favouritism has been breeding mediocre cricket and turning talented cricketers into jokes.

And then you also have the argument that cricket has simply lost its luster. Nobody wants to stand in the sun all day for 5 days to play a sport that can be rather boring at times except in its shorter version and its even shorter 20/20 version (which by the way has added some new viewers to the sport). This is an argument which I think also has some merit. Because despite the fact that WI cricketers are definitely paid nicely, they do have a job that I'm not sure I'd be able to stand for too long.

All in all though I dont think the problem is any ONE of the issues I presented above... It's all of them. Cricket as a sport has been on a downward spiral overall as people just cant afford to waste 5 days of their already hectic workweek (not to say people could previously) watching a single sport. Its counter-productive. And how do you entice people to play a sport when people aren't watching it?

I dont think cricket especially WI cricket is at the point of no return. It is recoverable. With some hard work and focus we can definitely regain the glory that was WI cricket.... However I do believe it is time for a major reshuffling of the cricket world. People still look at 20/20 cricket as a joke but look at the viewership that the recent standford 20/20 tournament had received ... literally EVERYBODY was watching it. Not because it was new... but because it was lively and exciting. Exactly the kind of things that this sport needs to bring itself back to the glory days. The talent is there, the foundation is there, the resources are there... so lets just do something about wi cricket!