I have been a follower of West Indies cricket almost since I became conscious of my existence. Some of my earliest memories are of lying in my bed beside my father with 3:00 am commentary from Australia on the radio, my sleep deprived mother having chased him out of their bedroom. Among my first heroes were names like Hall, Gibbs, Sobers and Khanai. And how many times have the West Indies made me feel proud – Sobers and Holford at Lords in 1966, Sobers at Sabina Park in 1968, Murray and Roberts against Pakistan in 1976, Walsh and Ambrose at Bridgetown in 1992 and the one run win at Adelaide in 1993. Glorious revelations all of never-say-die grace under pressure.

But of late moments of pride in West Indies cricket have been far and few between. What have not been in short supply are instances of shame. The slaughter in South Africa has indeed been humiliating, but in the last 12 months we have also witnessed the Sabina Park pitch debacle, the sending of over aged players to the youth World Cup and the changing of the semi-finalists in the 1998 Red Stripe Bowl after the match was played.

Of course the Windies’ performance in South Africa has been shameful. Losing of itself is  no disgrace, but their craven surrender brings to mind Claude McKay’s words

“If we must die, let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.”

They certainly have not nobly gone down like men, pressed to the wall but fighting back.

Those who blame the captain may be partly right. Brian Lara is clearly not the player he once was. Whether or not the rumours of his arrogance are true, his bloated face and waist speak volumes about his self-discipline as an athlete. When he set his world records in 1994 he was a slim, lithe, graceful artist and potentially the best batsman since Bradman. In comparison he is now a fat, ponderous, ungainly slogger without a test century in almost two years. It is sad to see such once in a life-time talent wasted. But Lara is not the first sportsman whose talent has exceeded his character, and he is only one man. Even if he is a disastrous captain, was he not appointed by the powers that be?

In the end, it is the WICB who must shoulder most of the blame for the recent disasters. No army in history has ever risen above the level of its generals. There was clearly right and wrong on both sides in the pre-tour players’ strike. But an unhappy work force which strikes in unity is always evidence of an out of touch management which has ignored the well-being of its employees. No such entity can function for long without going bankrupt.

The WICB has repeatedly revealed itself as a bunch of fatuous profilers - emperors with no clothes. Their incompetent bumbling has sent a message to the watching world that we are not a region to be taken seriously or entrusted with even minor matters of importance. Even worse, to this date no one has stepped forward to accept responsibility for any of the recent incidents. As far as the West Indies Cricket Board and its regional affiliates seem to be concerned, they have taken place completely by accident and are really no one’s fault. The buck for West Indies cricket apparently stops nowhere.

If a player goes out and repeatedly fails, he is dropped a la Jimmy Adams. If a team loses continually the captain is changed. This happened to Courtney Walsh after the Windies lost three nil to Pakistan and might well happen to Brian Lara. But the WICB continues to blunder without anyone resigning or being fired.

It is no secret that cricket in the entire West Indies is in trouble. Television, basketball and football have all dramatically eroded interest in the sport. But the ineptitude and lack of shame displayed by the WICB is helping to kill a game already experiencing trouble by alienating fans, players and sponsors. Whatever people felt about cricket as a sport in the past, they immensely respected it as an institution and considered it a game of intelligence, honour and integrity. But of late the highest cricketing authorities in the region have shown repeated incompetence, openly refused to accept any responsibility for their mistakes and petulantly denied there was any problem. Who can respect men like these? And who can admire a game which allows persons so bereft of common decency to dictate its future?