Many of us have been paying close attention to the progress of cricket franchises over the past few weeks in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The contest moves to Guyana today.
Friends who know my obstinate views on this
have been quick to point out that what is important is who “hosts” the
respective cricketing business enterprises and not who comprises the various
teams. Good point.
This, they say, is the important factor to
bear in mind. Fine, because it supports my point. This is not like other major sporting
franchises where cities (and not countries) act as hosts – IPL, Big Bash, NFL,
La Liga, EPL etc.
So, how did “national pride” and
“patriotism” come into this?
The trouble is, since I raised this in the
early years, such irrational passions have intensified. For example, when I
switched allegiance from the “T&T Amazon Warriors” (my joke) to TKR this
season (btw, there’s no country anywhere in the world named “Trinbago”), my
friends and colleagues in the oil-rich South American republic were quick to
brand the transition as treasonous.
It’s just that when Pakistani-American Ali
Khan bowled Barbadian batsman Shai Hope during last week’s encounter at Queen’s
Park Oval, I found it hard to visualise a vigorously waved T&T flag as a
naturally occurring, sensible part of the picture.
Correspondingly, I cannot recall anything
of the sort during the West Indies Rising Stars Under 15s Championship earlier
this year. This event featured national teams. Neither were there wildly waved national
flags at the Brian Lara Stadium in March when the real T&T cricket team was
beaten to a frazzle by an authentic Guyanese outfit.
So, this CPL thing really has nothing to do
with “patriotism” or faux jingoistic pride. But, as I advised right here six years
ago “if you use a national flag in the branding of any product, you can convert
support into passion, affection into love, and a simple contest into a war.”
This came into pathetic view in 2018 when
our T&T national flag was trampled on the ground at Providence Stadium by
“patriotic” Guyanese fans on whose CPL team then resided the likes of Rayad
Emrit and Jason Mohammed.
This year, local content ambitions
conspired to omit even a solitary T&T presence on the GAW team and there
has been accompanying social media dialogue. Yet can anyone say where Odean
Smith gets his pepperpot? Or identify Azam Khan’s favourite fruit stand at
Bourda Market?
Likewise, the lady with the JA flag on
Saturday should have asked Amir Jangoo which pan jerk vendor around Kingston
was his favourite or whether Chris Green preferred Papine Market over
Coronation.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I think the CPL
has done more to excite interest among West Indians in the game of cricket than
any other current platform. It is also a very well organised series.
Even so, this is about the game of cricket
and not “West Indies Cricket” which is a virtual irrelevance in at least the
four Caricom countries whose populations have zero interest in the game. The
regional movement’s contribution of time and resources toward the sport – in
its manifestation as “West Indies Cricket” - has probably (and quite
justifiably) led to questions about the allocation of membership dues.
But anywhere national flags are being
waved, it is difficult to apply rigour and reason. The fact is, (and I revisit
my 2018 call to reason) “West Indies Cricket” (not the game of cricket) - as an
expression of a coherent Caribbean ethos - has not existed in a very long time.
There is no educational force-feeding or social engineering capable of
reversing the process among the millennials.” It’s long over.
Indeed, imprisoned swindler, Allen
Stanford, was on to something long before anybody else when he launched his
20/20 tournament in 2006 – in that instance with real flags representing actual
countries.
I have a good friend who is one of the
greatest post-facto (seconds after the game has ended) supporters of sports
teams. So, today it’s St Lucia Kings, but he can easily pivot to whoever beats
them on any given day.
But even he is often quick to point out that
a win for SLK is not necessarily a win for Saint Lucia since the CPL is not a
contest to identify “the best national cricket team in the Caribbean.”
To claim otherwise would be almost as
foolish as concluding that a country is the best in the world at something when
the rest of the world is not considered part of the equation. The CPL does not
determine the best country at cricket in the Caribbean. It is great fun and
excellent skills are on display. Why can’t it just be that?
