Creating a structure

[brucie]

I can't help but think that this is a good reference for the future development of our cricket:

"We can't take anything for granted. We're a country of just four million people and we need to attract the top sporting talent - give them the skills and keep them in the game."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tomfordyce/2 ... od_at.html

[BallOil]

Welcome aboard Brucie... I like your quote from the link above. This is an excellent article and the Kiwis sound committed to the sport.

New Zealand is a single nation while the West Indies is made of up numerous small countries. How do we bridge the gap in the Caribbean with one goal, developing WI cricket again?

[brucie]

New Zealand is actually several islands and their rugby players represent 3 distinct ethnic groups - Maori, European and Polynesian - so the spatial and cultural variety is similar to our own. Moreover, they have addressed potential shortfalls proactively instead of waiting for a prolonged rut to recognise there is an issue. Even allowing for our extended dry run, I'm amazed how many West Indians refuse to acknowledge the erosion of our talent pool of potential elite sportsmen due to increased profile of football and athletics (and other lesser sports). How often do you hear people say "but this worked for Everton and Viv, so it should work now"?

[BallOil]

Excellent points Brucie ... I'm not familiar with NZ setup .... But, I would guess given that they are under one umbrella and vision they are able to work together despite their differences. WI on the other hand have different priority in the various territories. Don't get me wrong, I think WI can still rebuild if the people involved are committed, passionate, accountable, working together in a transparent manner. Remember when WI started they were under the British rule and that concept worked.... Then came the 60s-70s when most of these territories gained independence and their priorities changed.

[BallOil]

I'v pin this thread up for a bit since our new BFF Brucie posted a link to a must read article ...

[brucie]

You're right regarding inter-island rivalry - it's not easy to overcome. But just as we were able to instil the CXC system across the region, it doesn't seem unreasonable for us to implement a development programme for our cricket that is integrated within the schools. And that's the kind of programme that sponsors usually jump onto.

[BallOil]

You're right regarding inter-island rivalry - it's not easy to overcome. But just as we were able to instil the CXC system across the region, it doesn't seem unreasonable for us to implement a development programme for our cricket that is integrated within the schools. And that's the kind of programme that sponsors usually jump onto.

Sounds good Brucie... However, then each government will have to drive this since the schools are part of their systems... The local government will have fund this since the WICB is not doing enough on development. How the WICB or new structure convince the various countries to invest?

BTW, New Zealand won the Rugby WC

[mikesiva]

One advantage they have is that NZ is one country, while the West Indies, as we all know, is a mixture of over a dozen independent nations. Some Trinis expressed more pride in their country playing in the Champions League than in the West Indies playing in the World Cup. You'd never have a Kiwi feeling the same way about their domestic team in the Champions League.

But NZ have another problem, which Bally just raised. They just won the Rugby World Cup, and any Kiwi will tell you that Rugby is god there, while cricket is a poor relative....

[Westdem]

One advantage they have is that NZ is one country, while the West Indies, as we all know, is a mixture of over a dozen independent nations. Some Trinis expressed more pride in their country playing in the Champions League than in the West Indies playing in the World Cup. You'd never have a Kiwi feeling the same way about their domestic team in the Champions League.
But NZ have another problem, which Bally just raised. They just won the Rugby World Cup, and any Kiwi will tell you that Rugby is god there, while cricket is a poor relative....

Spot on!!! Too much insularity among West Indians plus how are they gonna create any structure to fit all nations will be a real challenge...

[AFRO]

There's a big difference between the NZ rugby team and the WI cricket team though, and guess what it is? MONEY, the all blacks are a world famous team who have the likes of Addidas behind them and everywhere they go they pack out stadiums and lets not forget the TV revenue, so when you have that kind of money coming in it's much easier to make strides foward and have a good set up,

I mean is it any surprise that the cricket teams at the top of the rankings are the ones with the most financial clout? Eng, SA, India, Aus, it can't be a coincidence, the better your set up is the more likely you are to prosper, and i'm glad o say that little by little we are making steps forward in the right direction, the HPC is there, there's bowling clinics and batting ones to come, the youngsters play their regional games and the best players go abroad with the WI u19 team, and even cricket workshops all over the caribbean for chrildren who want to develope their skills, there's still work to be done but we're getting there imo.