Jim White : A Second Look
Brian Lara is renowned in cricket as an active disciple of the Geoffrey Boycott school: nothing matters as much as himself, or rather his bank balance.
Yet in an affair which initially seemed little more than another piece of financial brinkmanship by the world’s most gifted batsman, it is the islands’ cricket administrators who have looked increasingly out of touch, if not out to lunch.
Watching developments this week, it is clear the West Indies board has been marginalised. Lara and his chums may have been sacked, but that merely gave them the chance to negotiate directly with those who matter: the South Africans. Or more particularly, President Nelson Mandela, who seems to enjoy his new role as head of sports.
There is a sweet irony here. The old apartheid regime stuck their noses into the affairs of touring parties to keep black sportsmen out; these days the hosts offer everything from sponsorship deals to free first-class flights and dinner with the president to ensure they will come.
Ali Bacher, managing director of South Africa’s United Cricket Board, admits he is desperate to see the West Indians fulfil their tour. Since certain intransigent parties in South African rugby seem determined to maintain old exclusivities, Bacher is anxious to sell cricket as the rainbow nation’s sport.
Thus Brian Lara is vital: not only is he the world’s most accomplished player but he is a hooking, driving, black role model to boot. Equally, South African television made it clear it was prepared to underwrite the West Indian players’ demands and so revitalise the tour only if Lara were reinstated. An echo of Ronaldo and the World Cup final: they will only pay if he plays.
And there, on the other side of the table, are the West Indian administrators clinging to the belief that the game is bigger than the players. Well, no, it isn’t. Whatever the outcome of this tour, the board is in trouble. Virtually bankrupt at home, where cricket lags behind basketball and football as the sport of choice among the youth, the board desperately needs overseas tours for the injection of cash they bring.
But those tours only have value in the sponsor-driven world if the big names are involved. And if they are, they soak up all the money. That’s always been sports administrators’ biggest problem: it would be a nice easy job if it weren’t for the players.