Time to go it alone...

[Gils]

" More than one player, now unavailable due to their commitments to global T20 franchises, has told me they feel the West Indies they would officially represent is really the WICB. "

Seeit deh, privateers

Everyone knows there is no nation called West Indies & it's simply dishonest to act like that has no implications, especially when the BWICBC'c refusal to even speak with regional government shows how far away their concerns are from this fictional " nation " .

The comments section shows more & more cricket fans are seeing clearly through the smoke and mirrors.

NUTCUTLET - As a Test entity, the WIndies are an embarrassment and it's time to end the farce. Disband... No one is going to waste their time or money watching sub-standard cricket.

The WICB is completely dysfunctional and doesn't deserve to limp on, to line the pockets of the less than worthy members of the WICB who make a living on the back of a game that is a failed product.

The board clearly never had any internal will to reform despite the various well-meaning attempts to clean the stables over the last few years coming from those who tried to influence the dismal decline that has been evident for twenty years.

POMPANDCIRCUMSTANCE - The decline of the "West Indies" is a broader statement on the anachronistic colonial construct which lumped 10+ sovereign countries into a regional grouping and stripped them of their individual identities.

While this may be been passable prior to decolonization and then retained its relevance through one generation of exceptional players post-decolonization, the reality is that no one is "West Indian" any more than any one is "ANZAC" or "Indo-Chinese" or "Levant".

This especially repugnant when "countries" such as Scotland and Northern Ireland compete as their own teams, when they are only constituent parts of the United Kingdom.
Time for cricket to catch up to the rest of the world, and dissolve the "West Indies"

MANI SUBBU - The logical solution is that all the islands field separate teams. Thye islands are fielding separate teams in Commonwealth Games, Olympics, World Cup Football, etc, so why not in cricket.

A combined West Indies performed very well because they were united in their fight against their former rulers and cricket gave them an opportunity. I guess times have changed , popularity has dwindled, it is best to go separately so that islands which still have popularity in cricket will one day rise up. Example is India and Pakistan who immediately on gaining independence had started separate teams .

BILL4 - What Tony Cozier is saying, is late news.

For several years, i have been saying there no unity in WI Cricket and it will never improve if there is no unity. Even a Blind man can see that. They keep changing the coach and players on a regular basis with the same heavy defeats. common sense does not tell them that's not the problem.

It's very sad to see the state of WI cricket, and there are no signs of it improving anytime soon. The best thing is they should stop playing Test cricket and stop embarrassing the region.

[mikesiva]

"Perhaps it now makes more sense for the regions to go it alone. The Professional Cricket League still has the game spread too thinly and "franchises" are a terrible sop - as if a fancy name will change anything. Sometimes it is wiser to turn back time and establish what made things acceptable in the very beginning....A governing board of 17 people seems absurdly overblown. This is made up of representatives from the 16 nations that play under the banner of West Indies. Apparently, recommendations from the Caribbean community (CARICOM) that call for the immediate dissolution of that board are to be thrown out. It is a bizarre situation. One that would benefit from a blank sheet of paper....Fifty-over cricket will almost certainly stay an inter-island affair, including all associates and neighbours in a league then knockout form with each of the four first-class teams seeded. The Caribbean Premier League would surely remain the commercial animal it is now. Of course, the CPL - any national T20 league - is the root of the fastest-growing problem in global cricket. Put simply, it offers a great deal for not much. It is difficult to criticise West Indian cricketers for deserting the insanity that prevails within the West Indies Cricket Board and taking the dollar elsewhere....Yes, other interests suck young talent out of the cricket vacuum and into the ether. From afar, it appears that pitches are not what they once were - slow, low, boring these days. Pride and ambition look to have been lost but defeat after defeat will do that. The plain fact is that the world and the game change. The Caribbean doesn't. It stands resolutely still in time. The problem is that high-quality players are no longer there to cover for this. The cabal formed by India, England and Australia will marginalise every other major cricket-playing nation. The next to be severely threatened will be South Africa. It may be that, genuinely, the cabal cannot see this. But they are blind. The diminished form of Test cricket is before us, crystal clear. If no one really cares, then fine, carry on regardless. But the lowest common denominator will not sustain the most beautiful game."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 52847.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mikesiva]

The WICB is a toxic administration...the players just don't trust them.

The West Indies is a toxic brand...the players don't have a problem with striking against such an entity.

It's time to do away with the West Indies, and go it alone. I don't see track and field athletes striking against their country's federation, and refusing to run in the Olympics of World Champs because of fees. They exhibit a national pride in running for Jamaica that no longer exists with the West Indies...not since the demise of the Federation.

[POINT]

My take is that the other members of the ICC are overjoyed by what the WICBC is doing , it means that they will have more money to share around , and they will not have to play against our Players . As I have stated before : MORE CRICKET IS PLAYED OFF THE FIELD THAN ON THE FIELD .
Now if there is any doubt about what I have said above , I invite YOU , to check who had the
Fastest Bowlers in the World when it was decided to introduce the one Bouncer per Over in
Cricket .

[mikesiva]

"No player should have to deal with that but it's been like that for so long. Unless the West Indies disbands and we play as individual islands, I don't know how things can really change. I don't think the islands will ever go their separate ways but I can honestly say I'd love it to happen. Barbados versus Australia, imagine it now. I would love it so much if Barbados went alone and were left to make their way up the ICC rankings. I'm sure we'd do well. We've always had an awesome team and we produce the most international players per square kilometre in the world. We have a proven record of producing top-class cricketers. If anyone should break away, we should. We'd always play as a unit too. We'd encourage each other, be there for each other, take care of each other. The same can't be said for the West Indies."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 95585.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tino Best argues the case for going it alone....

[Gils]

Presently, England is contemplating an exit from the EU. The matter will finally be put to the people some time next month, I believe.

" Gils

Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:11 pm

Nick http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" -and-stats"

The EU is an illusion of choice, much like Cari come. "

[Gils]

- Continuing the theme of Unity, T&T's trade surplus with Jamaica (April 2016) is estimated to have risen by approx $ 280 Million dollars US over the last 30 months.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

So, Jamaican exports to T&T have risen by $4 M US over three years, while imports from T&T have increased by almost $280 M US over the same time frame. So the total balance is now around $720 M US

- Thu Dec 25, 2014 11:55 am

Mapoui :

living and acting in ones best interest...self interest is all, simple and direct, ....from all and every angle it is in west indian collective self interest to federalize.

Gils :

" I doubt best interest and self interest are the same thing Mapoui but if you mean for example T&T getting the best price possible for it’s oil on the open market, even if it adversely affects the regions potential to increase productivity, rather than be federalised and selling it cheap locally then I could see the self interest aspect and the capitalist reasoning behind it.

If that is not what you meant then maybe you could give a practical example of how “ acting in ones best interests “ , will benefit the collective as a whole - either through movement of peoples, trade and Industry, finance, law or……… sport, even.

Btw, Thanks for the P.M but I wouldn't describe this subject as a private conversation, so...

Mapoui

" Jamaica is financially bankrupt "

gils :

Is not breaking news, but how doe's your Caribbean union resolve this, and who is Jamaica's biggest Caribbean trading " partner " .

Imports in US $ - 2013 JAN-AUG Trinidad and Tobago $455,456,254.00
Exports in US $ - 2013 JAN-AUG Trinidad and Tobago $11,628,480.49

Equals a $ 443.827 Million dollar trading deficit. Will your union reduce this, how......

These may help move your Jamaica studies along, being that all is inter-connected

http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/filing-b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestne" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
http://statinja.gov.jm/Trade-Econ%20Sta" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

Wow the Bahamas are " the Richest Country in the Caribbean " who would've thunk it "

Now I admit to knowing little about the deportation of 12 Jamaican nationals from T&T & I'm also not one to claim that the Islands are better off " working in our best interests/self interests " or that going it alone would be economically crippling, but I can see how T&T like this current rendition of West Indian nationhood.

[Gils]

Cricket Ireland October 14, 2016 Ireland domestic competition awarded first-class status

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ireland/con ... 61711.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gils]

Ireland and Afghanistan have today been awarded full member status by the ICC.

Both countries, after spending 10 years as associate members, can take part in TESTS and are now given a higher status in world cricket than all the 6 regional boards, who play FC cricket.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/cont ... 05347.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

I guess going is more financially viable than we've been led to believe.

[howzdat]

Was also wondering if this would be the appropriate topic on which to post the news of Ireland's & Afghanistan's newly announced test status.

Not only is this good news for these two nations but I also reckon that it bolsters the arguments about some from of orderly breakaway and mutually beneficial co-existence with national boards and the WICB.
Yes it will mean starting at the bottom for the nations who choose this and they will also have to go through the Associates route but with Ireland & Afghanistan now being added as Test playing nations, it is only a matter of time before West Indies fall another place down in the Test rankings!

Such a development could also shore up arguments for a 'two-tier' split amongst test playing nations in a system that sees the ICC commit to ensuring fair distribution of the wealth at the top AND the possibility for teams to be promoted to the upper tier.

Gils also notes that it only took ten years plus goodwill on the part of the ICC of course to bring this about.

Congratulations to Ireland & Afghanistan!