http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Anything_but_super-132901033.htmlAnything but superBy Fazeer Mohammed
Story Created: Oct 31, 2011 at 12:53 AM ECT
It's a good thing the world wasn't watching.
In keeping with a tournament that has failed to generate interest beyond the narrow confines of the competing territories, Saturday's final of the Regional Super50 underscored the degree to which mediocrity has taken a firm grip as the defining characteristic of Caribbean cricket.
But let me correct myself right away, for the interest doesn't even extend to the narrow confines referred to above, not when immigration officers at Cheddi Jagan International Airport were telling the few Trini diehards arriving in Guyana on the morning of the final they had no idea a big match was on that day at Providence.
Those officers were not alone in their ignorance, or indifference. Even with the home team in action against Trinidad and Tobago in the first semi-final on Wednesday, only a couple hundred felt it worth the effort to part with the Guy$1,000 (US$5) admission fee to see their national side. Granted it was the Divali holiday and many in the Hindu community would have been preoccupied with religious observances. Still, the paltry turnout betrayed widespread disinterest in a nation still generally acknowledged to have an obsessive attachment to the game.
Both semi-finals and the final were covered by the American-based sporting network, ESPN, in the continuation of an arrangement with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), although the matches were only available "live" on cable networks in the region while North American and other audiences were required to access the coverage via the internet on ESPN3.com.
At the best of times, the three matches were distressingly poor advertisements for the West Indian game. Coinciding as they did with a pulsating World Series finale to the Major League Baseball season (including a Game 6 that has instantly been hailed as one of the all-time classics), we should probably be grateful that most Americans were too absorbed with the St Louis Cardinals' eventual triumph over the Texas Rangers in seven games to even bother to notice the sub-standard fare being served up at the Guyana National Stadium.
Even if we were to take into account the same turgid, lifeless track that was used for all three matches ("Why?" is the obvious question) and the absence of several first-choice players on West Indies duty in Bangladesh, the consistent inability of any batting line-up to make the necessary adjustment in combating the challenge was sobering, even if you were sober all the time anyway.
Yes, the spinners, with Sunil Narine the most effective exponent, bowled well and exploited the helpful conditions. But it is no exaggeration to say they were flattered by leaden-footed players who seem to have been converted almost completely to the all-or-nothing crassness to which what was once the art of batsmanship has now descended.
Whether or not it is a consequence of the obsession with the frenetic pace of Twenty20 cricket, the fact remains that the subtlety, finesse and plain cricketing common sense of picking up singles to keep the scoreboard ticking over, to alternate the strike and so put the bowler off a consistent line of attack is fast becoming an endangered specie on the playing fields of the Caribbean.
There were one or two exceptions, and it must be noted that the batting of Jason Mohammed throughout the tournament suggests that he is long overdue for an extended run in the Trinidad and Tobago team, even when all the returning players are available. Where some have regressed or appear to lack the motivation to push themselves in the much more modest environment of the regional game, the 25-year-old right-hander displayed the skill and temperament that set him apart from almost all around him.
Maybe he will eventually become complacent if established in the national side, or look down upon playing for his country as a nuisance if elevated to senior regional representation. Maybe, but then he won't be alone in succumbing to that malaise, and in any event, is clearly deserving of greater faith from the selectors five-and-a-half years after a hundred against the Windward Islands in a regional first-class semi-final at Guaracara Park marked him in the eyes of some as a special talent.
More than the uninspiring cricket out in the middle, it was impossible, even in the five days in Guyana for the semi-finals and final, to ignore the power-struggle in the administration of the game in that South American nation that has left many disillusioned and feeling disenfranchised. Those now in office will obviously argue otherwise, but the proof of the pepperpot is in the eating. At the moment, the results aren't very palatable.
Here at home, the Azim Bassarath-led administration should not allow their resounding success at being returned to office unopposed for another two years to be interpreted as confirmation that all is well in the state of Trinidad and Tobago cricket, on or off the field. If anything, the coincidence of their electoral success and the national team's capitulation to Jamaica on that Saturday should make clear that there is no time for celebration.
Too often we have heard talk of post-mortems in the face of disappointments in recent years, and watched as business continued as usual.
This time around, the concern is not merely about defeat in the final, but the overall performance of the squad--from the opening loss to the Combined Campuses and Colleges to the final flop at the hands of Chris Gayle's Jamaicans–in a competition that was anything but super.
fazeer2001@hotmail.com