Hope Springs Eternal In The West Indian Breast Analysis

Hope Springs Eternal in the West Indian Breast
By Zaheer E. Clarke
Last week, tennis superstar Serena Williams, along with track stars Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, built a school in the small district of Salt Marsh, situated in the home parish of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. The day prior, while driving along the highway past this small district, I saw community members, young and old, with bats, balls and pads, playing cricket in this seaside community.
A similar tale can be told two months after the West Indies senior team took industrial action and walked off the Indian tour, in October 2014. While driving past the Roman Catholic Church, in the town of Falmouth, a mile outside of Salt Marsh, I saw kids - boys and girls - playing cricket right after
We Have a Problem’, I declared that “based on raw talent and athleticism, our West Indian youngsters are considered the crème de la crème”. Alzarri Joseph and Gidron Pope, two future international players who are on everyone’s lips, quickly stand out in terms of raw talent and athleticism. I pointed out in that article eight months ago, how Germany, in football; Australia, in cricket; and Jamaica, in athletics have developed an unrelenting will and desire in their sportsmen and sportswomen through and intermix of cultural advantages, economic investment, and technological advancements that have borne fruitful successes in the respective sport.
I further stated at the time that “The onus is on the (West Indies Cricket) board to germinate the right culture that rewards a cerebral approach, facilitates Arabian oil-type cash flow, and acquire the best backroom analytics experts to nurture these successes” I even outlined the role of the us, the West Indian fans, in rekindling the “passion in the next generation.” and holding the WICB board “accountable”.
Those words were profound looking back at them now bearing in mind how the West Indies Under-19 team won their last four matches in the World
Similarly, a noetic and refreshing approach to cricket was shown through Shamar Springer’s and captain Shimron Hetmyer’s batting in the semifinal and likewise Keacy Carty’s and Paul’s batting in the final. An intellectual assessment of the situation was made by the players in both matches and the journey to victory was charted and sanely implemented.
Oftentimes in the past, our senior players have abandoned these tenets, opting at times for flare and glory. These youngsters give us hope that the future can bear fruit. In the past we had that same hope before or after other West Indies U-19 teams did well, though not win, the U-19 World Cup. In the 1998 u-19 World Cup, senior players of recent vintage such as Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels all featured. Gayle and Sarwan topped the runs and wicket columns for the tournament respectively, while also topping the West Indian batting averages at 72 and 58 severally.. The team on a whole, Keemo Paul, Springer,