By ADRIAN GREEN From Nation News Barbados

West Indies T20 captain Darren Sammy did not speak very loudly with his bat in the recently concluded tournament.

But he played a master shot during the interview that followed the finals. It was a stroke of political genius.
In the wake of victory, Sammy hit the West Indies Cricket Board for six, with his condemnation of the board’s performance leading up to the tournament. Had he saved his comments for a more gentlemanly moment he would have lost the tailwind of the euphoria sweeping across the Caribbean. The gust of support and admiration the men in maroon inspired with their World Cup win, was necessary to carry the Windies captain’s words into the deep caverns of the people’s hearts.
Can you imagine the response of Caribbean cricket fans if they had lost?
“Dem men ain mekking nuh runs and want tuh mek mo money? “Dem ain care bout de game, all dem care bout is cash.”
The team did lose to unheralded Afghanistan, but had already secured their place in the semis. But if that was not the case, what would have been the public’s response to the team’s lamentations?
Everybody loves a winner, at least for a while. The window of opportunity to harness the sympathies of the Caribbean is short. In two-twos, the ecstasy of victory would fade into the void of everyday reality. The Caribbean pride and passion that erupted last week would evaporate into the prevailing atmosphere of social, political and economic uncertainty.
Sammy struck while the iron was hot, while he had the ears and hearts of the people. Had his side lost, that hot iron would have been the feeble, desperate, lash of a loser. We will identify with and support a winner from the region. Our self-esteem, though, is not strong enough to prop them up when they are losing.
So much of our sense of self is wrapped up in cricket. The cricket pitch was the arena where we levelled our gaze with that of the former colonisers and ultimately forced them to lower theirs. We were the captive gladiators gaining the upper hand on their masters. In the days of the three Ws, we were Spartacus and England was Rome.
The modern stars of Windies cricket are not perceived to have the luminance of a Weekes, Walcott or Worrell. The common criticism is that they do not play with the same fire. They have been characterised as: mercenaries, guns for hire, soldiers of fortune, rather than patriotic warriors fighting for the glory and good name of the region.
This may be true, but unfair, criticism. Who doing anything simply fuh glory these days? And it is one thing to level the gaze, quite another to level the pay. The glory days of regional cricket were a different time and era. In some ways, the task of the early West Indies cricket team was simple compared to what today’s team is asked to accomplish. In a simpler time, sports were won on talent and ability. In today’s world, the game, any game, is won on systems and structures.
In reality, it has always been that way. Focused organisation has always had a better record than raw power. In 73 BC, gladiators were enslaved athletes who fought for the amusement of Roman citizens but rebelled under the leadership of Spartacus. They won several battles, but lost the war. The superior athleticism and fighting ability of the individual gladiators, was no match for the superior numbers, and military systems and structure of the Roman Empire. As the world has grown in complexity, systems and structures have become increasingly important.
By reputation, Sammy is an excellent leader. His contribution to the team cannot be measured in runs. It is his ability to inspire and bring together that causes him to shine. He is a Sparatacus of a man. Sammy, like Spartacus, managed to forge a formidable unified force out of a motley crew of individuals. He too, was able to inflict damage on an opponent with greater resources at their disposal. If business author Frank Kofman is right, that it is the job of a leader to create alignment and to create culture, Sammy has done his job as far as he can.
The rest is up to the West Indies Cricket Board. They are the ones who ultimately control the systems and structures; the culture of West Indies cricket. Whether they are up to the task is doubtful. A panel of esteemed individuals brought together to study a way forward for W.I. cricket has suggested the board be disbanded. They say the board’s own structure is outdated and incompatible with the modern era.
After the report was made public, the WICB was summoned to a meeting with CARICOM heads of Government. The response was that they were very busy. Sammy and the boys should not take it personally. Not even the CARICOM heads of state seem to have much influence over the board. This is poetic irony. Many question whether the leaders of the Caribbean themselves understand that the role of a leader is to create the alignment and the culture that allows those they lead to flourish. Arrogance runs deep in Caribbean leadership culture.
It is said that a people should not be judged by their ability to produce good leaders, but their ability to function in their absence. In that case, the West Indies Cricket team has shown us the way. Let us pay attention. Congrats guys, and thanks.
Adrian Green is a creative communications specialist.
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