We are now fully into February, the second month of the 2025 New Year, the first fortnight of which has provided some very interesting developments for West Indies cricket. A member territory Prime Minister publicly lambasting Cricket West Indies’ incumbent President Kishore Swallow; CWI Executive Board’s approval for the extension of its Presidential term from two to three years, as well as a 38year-old allrounder, Jason Mohammed, registering a double hundred as his third successive 2025 Regional 4Day Championship score! These were just some of the major, very interesting, developments which occurred during the first two weeks of February in the never-a-dull-moment world of West Indies cricket.
Barbados’ Andrew Mason & Guests Call-In Radio Show airs on the Voice of Barbados FM99.9 Station each and every Tuesday evening. Despite the often maligned interviewing skills, or lack thereof, and unsavory practices of its host Andrew Mason, the show has over the years attracted an ultra-impressive array of guests. Resulting in its unrivalled popularity as undoubtedly the Caribbean region’s leading cricket radio program.
The February 5, 2025 edition of Mason & Guests (M&G) was notable for the participation of St Vincent & the Grenadines’ Prime Minister: the Rt. Honorable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, as well as his fellow countryman CWI’s Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe, among others. Having been allowed by Mason to hold almost uninterrupted court for a full forty-five minutes, approximately fifty-percent of the Show’s ninety-minutes duration, PM Gonsalves used his time to publicly castigate the recent actions of CWI incumbent President Dr. Kishore Shallow.
Dr. Shallow’s recent decision to enter into St Vincent’s political arena as a candidate to become the Leader of the Opposition Party, while still serving as CWI President, is certainly unprecedented in the latter’s multi decades history. Given that St Vincent is also one of CWI’s member territories, it was a decision that has raised eyebrows throughout the Caribbean. Not only as being incredulously foolhardy, but also quite possibly a conflict of interest.
What was never going to be in doubt was that as gifted an orator as he is, Dr Gonsalves was not ever going to forsake any provided opportunities to make his personal views on Dr Shallow’s actions public. That he certainly did on the February 5, M&G. In a manner which would surely have received the approval of by far the greater majority of listeners, while Dr Shallow if he was one such, would have been left cringing!
Any discomfort experienced by Dr Shallow as a result of PM Gonsalves’ public lambasting might have been quickly removed, however! Less than a week later he was given cause to celebrate the CWI Executive Board’s February 8 Meeting Approval of the extension of the organization’s President & Vice President terms of office from two to three years. According to the approved amendments, holders of those two CWI top positions can also, henceforth, be elected to serve for three consecutive terms.
As such as CWI’s incumbent President Dr Shallow, if re-elected, can theoretically remain in that office for as long as nine years. Almost a decade, perhaps, of him continuing to not fulfill any of the grandiose promises he has already made! Either as part of his Presidential Campaign Manifesto, or to respective individuals.
Against that rather discouraging backdrop, there was at least the far more heartening news of the organization’s recently appointed CEO Chris Dehring having commenced his duties in a most encouraging manner. One of Dehring’s very first acts of office was to spend some time in Trinidad, discussing cricketing matters with that country’s Cricket Board.
In doing so Dehring seems to have already fully recognized that unless and until the issues affecting the core pillars of West Indies cricket success, those of school and club cricket, are rectified and repaired none of the desired improvements will be forthcoming any time soon! During the halcyon days of Caribbean cricket, from the early promise of the late fifties, thru the world champion years of the mid-sixties, and eventually onto the all-conquering eras of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards, robust school and club cricket structures were the foundational pillars of such experienced success.
Both of those, however, happen to be essentially, almost exclusively, within the domain responsibility of CWI’s Member Territories. In much the exact manner that the whole is always just the sum of its parts, a forest is only as strong as its trees! CWI’s forest will, therefore, only ever be as strong as the respective member territories that constitute its individual trees.
For West Indies cricket to ever hope of regain any semblance of its long-lost stature, even as a top five ranked international Test cricket entity, the popularity of and participation in schools and club cricket has to be restored and revived in each of its six member territories. As of now, however, schools’ cricket can only be said to be thriving in Barbados and Trinidad. While in other CWI member countries, Guyana in particular, it has sadly become almost non-existent.
Much the same can now sadly also be said about the state of club cricket throughout the Caribbean. Clubs such as Barbados’ Empire and Wanderers, Jamaica’s Melbourne and Guyana’s Georgetown Cricket Clubs have all become mere shadows of their former selves. GCC, the Bourda home turf of which was one once regarded as one of the finest grounds in the entire cricket world, has been allowed to fall into an abysmal state of disrepair.
The GCC pavilion which in its illustrious history was graced by the presence of such Caribbean cricket luminaries as Constantine, Headley the three Ws Walcott, Weekes, Worrell, Sobers, Kanhai, Gibbs, Butcher, Nurse, Hall Griffith. Lloyd, Kallicharran, Rowe, Roberts, Richards, Holding, Garner, Croft, Marshall, Greenidge, Haynes, Bishop, Ambrose, Richardson, Walsh. Lara and Chanderpaul, has now become little more than a glorified rum shop. Attracting mere handfuls of alcohol imbibing persons on weekends. A far cry from its glory days when its stands used to be jampacked with spectators fervently witnessing in awe and admiration the exploits of the aforementioned greats.
All this while the cricket supportive President Irfaan Ali Guyana government has embarked on a sports facilities development program that will eventually result in the construction of several additional cricket and all-sports stadiums all across the country. Work has also already commenced on a Good Hope based state of the art Cricket Academy to be managed by no less of an icon than Sir Clive Lloyd.
The thought that the GCC Bourda ground, with its unparalleled history as one of the oldest in the entire cricketing world, could have just as easily been refurbished to serve as a Youth Cricket Academy and historical museum for Guyana and West Indies cricket seems to have not entered the minds of anyone connected with the good President’s outstanding plans. Perhaps even worse any such suggestion may have been sadly dismissed as being politically irrelevant and unnecessary!
Cricket clubs within the Caribbean are now no longer producing such a preponderance of such great players as they did from the fifties thru to the mid-nineties. That much is true beyond question. What is also true, however, is that the first three rounds of matches in this year’s CWI 4Day tournament, which ended on February 15, have produced some batting performances which arguably have been the most encouraging ever witnessed in recent years.
The tournament’s second and third rounds, which were played from February 5-8 and 12-15 respectively, produced no less than two double centuries and fifteen individual hundreds. Runs galore for sure.
The bowlers have also held their own to a somewhat lesser degree. Such seasoned practitioners as Venkasammy Permaul, Yannick Cariah and Khari Pierre all having registered five and six wicket hauls. There was even an 8fer from Pierre.
The one person who will now, justifiably, be overjoyed by such admirable productivity from both batters and bowlers is West Indies’ all-formats Head Coach Daren Sammy. If such trends continue during the tournament’s remaining four rounds, which are scheduled to be held from the first to last weeks of this coming March, he will soon be having the very best type of selectorial headaches imaginable. Those which are welcomingly created by a preponderance of riches to choose from.
A very interesting fortnight indeed!