“Don’t want us to go the West Indian way”: Dravid’s blazing remark on why Indian cricketers don’t play overseas leagues.

Dravid spoke in detail after India crashed out of the T20 World Cup last year. Following their ten wicket defeat against England among the questions posed was on the reason behind Indian players being prevented from playing in overseas T 20 leagues. He went on .. ‘ a lot of our boys do miss out on the opportunity of playing in these leagues. But it’s up to the BCCI to make that decision, but the thing is that it is right in the middle of our season… “and with the kind of demand there would be for Indian players… If you allow them to play in these leagues, we won’t have domestic cricket, our Ranji trophy would be finished and that would mean that Test cricket would be finished. He continued “ A lot of our boys are asked to play leagues in the middle of our season, we have seen what is has done to west Indian cricket and the Indian boys playing Test cricket is pretty important for the Test game as well, I would think”

At the time of writing West Indies would have already lost the First Test against South Africa and the home side is cruising merrily on 290 for 5. Does anyone remember the saying “Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainty” … this was synonymous with West Indies cricket. Now I can safely say that West Indies cricket is a game of certainty. Certain to remain where we are in the rankings of World Cricket - or even get worse. Our ICC rankings as at January 2023are as follows: Test – 8th, ODI – 10th and T20 – 7th!

Having turned off the TV this morning an hour after the Test started with my “die hard” colleague doing the same albeit an hour later,

(however taking a peep at the score every now and then) the question arises “how much longer must we suffer”. Let me make it unequivocally clear that I personally laud our boys down under for slugging it away and putting in the hard work and commitment that is necessary to represent the maroon caps. Meanwhile, their colleagues are reaping the benefits of the T20 Franchises all over the World under the brand of the West Indies Cricket. Let me also make it explicitly clear that I have no objection to players making a more than decent earnings for the hard work and commitment they have made to reach where they are. But the Buck must stop somewhere!

The West Indies Cricket Board has invested in numerous programs to build our talent pool and these programs have certainly worked as can be seen by the past and current talent that we have. But for an Organisation to bear fruit it must harness that talent for optimum efficiency. The players who make it on the T20 circuit did so while representing WI who developed them and exposed them from Under 19 for example and must show some gratitude and payback.

The West Indies Cricket Board cannot continue to condone or not object to our players playing Franchise cricket at their whim and fancy. Players should be limited to one Franchise game per year – pick anyone and apply for your No-Objection clause (NOC) but dedicate your time and commitment to West Indies cricket – including our own four day tournaments , ODI’s and T20’s.

CWI seems to have a “no objection” policy for all players wishing to play Franchise cricket. Former WI cricket boss Dave Cameron has branded the player-centric approach employed by the incumbent administration as a failure, insisting it prioritizes the needs of a few

players over those of the region. It is instructional to note that under the current Administration, the cricketers, board and Players Association seem to enjoy a less acrimonious existence, but previous issues of players choosing not to avail themselves for the regional team, while continuing to take part in lucrative T20 leagues around the world has remained an issue – for years. The Skerrit Association seem to insist that no action would be taken against players who choose to go that route. Cameron (and yours truly) has once again questioned the merit of that approach. “The Shallow-Skeritt experiment has failed, putting players ahead of the region and that is the challenge” Cameron told the Mason and Guest radio program October last year. Cameron said that someone had attacked him when he was president and said that some players weren’t happy and I said to him, you could name the players that weren’t happy in one hand versus the region. He added “If you are running a business and you are trying to move the system forward you have to look at the greater good not just what is good for a few players.”

Meanwhile Mr. Skerrit was last seen in the stands of the T20 finals of the United Arab Emirates in Dubai cheering on his franchise players ….. Well he did give out approximately fifteen NOC’s - Non- Objection Clauses! Soon the reigns will be handed over to the mighty Swallow, same tune different bird. Do the West Indian die-hards know the value of these NOC’s when added together? No wonder many sing for their supper whilst we hope and pray. Stay tuned.