The controversy engulfing West Indies cricket worsened yesterday when former Antigua prime minister Lester Bird blasted the sport’s regional administrators, describing them as incompetent and accused them of punishing Jamaica because estranged batsman Chris Gayle has been selected for national duty.
Bird, who is also a former member of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), bluntly told WICB director Dr Ernest Hilaire that he lacks diplomacy and he does not have equal status with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
Bird’s comments on where the games needs to be played etc is a bit of base. Antigua, Jamaica, trinidad, Barbados have enjoyed the lime light in the past because the other Caribbean Islands did’t have proper venues to host games. Now that we all have venues the games should be played in each island on a rotation base. but there should also be games held at certain venues based on profit margin. Currently Dominica is highly profitable as a host due to the fan support. Note fan support is lacking right now.
Mr. Bird should get of his high horse and retract his statements regarding Dominica.
I agree with him that Gayle should be in the team. Hunte needs to be demoted, the WI team is made up of several islands and he should think that it’s may way on the highway. Prime ministers should stay out of the cricket world, politics should not govern the game. Look at what happens in Asia…
Please bring Gayle back if he still has interest in playing for the West Indies.
good letter mr bird ,u see what happen to people when u sorry or them.mr bird u open the door for the dominicans, and what u getting now big bashing.
antigua dont have high crime for your information ,its higer in da if u come to antigua u would wonder if u in maragot antigua has helped dominicans for a long time so wash your mouth of of antigua,we were born with talent its not our fault.u can count how many antiguans live in dominica,and guest what they cannot be working because their are know jobs.so please dont let this be personal all the big boss say is that gayle should be playing.
and guest what when antigua had 7 players on the side what was happening ,yes we were winning and thats the truth.the man is talking the truth and guest what u guys taking it personal ,gayle is the best batsman we got were else can we look … stop the hating dominica stick to fishing.
This has nothing to do with Gayle. I am a BIG fan of Gayle. I follow Gayle at every cricket venue he plays, be it on the TV or the internet. And I pray that that the feud between him and the WICB will eventually be over. We should be talking about unity in the Caribbean, not divide. Come on, why are we talking Caribbean Integration. Tourism is everybody’s business. This is Sports tourism. Come on down to the WINDSOR PARK STADIUM and enjoy cricket with us. We are a lovely and peaceful people.
AND GUESS WHAT!!! DOMINICANS CAME OUT IN LARGE NUMBERS TO SUPPORT AT THE RECREATIONAL GROUDS IN ANTIGUA. HEE! HEE! HEE!
I am shocked they refering to this man as a “BIRD” with his size he should be refered to as a ?????. The agenda is two fold they are smarting cause Dominica is getting what it truly deserve test cricket. Tell me what will every happen to caricom never in my life time just look at the hate and jelousy being spread all over. Crabs in a barrel mentality.
Well apparently Mr. Bird you have not visited Dominica when there is a cricket match going on , tickets are sold out with in a few days, and the stadium is always packed so I dont knw what your issue is. Take a visit to the Nature Ilse durning the match and come back and correct your comments. You talking about it costly for Jamacians to travlel to other parts of the caribbean so what about persons in the other islands that want to see the match. I thought you were supposed to be an educated person but your reasonings make no sense what does the population have to do with cricket. D/ca has a small population and time after time the stadium is packed so there is no logic behing your statement. You claim that we should try to unify the caribbean but all i seeing you trying to do is to make friends with J/ca and looking for all the profits for Antigua . yous guys had your fair share so now its D/ca turn.
Go relax yourself somewhere and read a book.
Saved the Bangladesh tour is a bit exaggerated. I was persuaded to set two days aside for the promised fireworks only to find that “seconds” were fielded that merely went through the motions. My mistake, of course but I left after lunch, a disillusioned fan
Dominicans came out to see cricket. whether the West Indies won or lost was a non issue. the fact of the matter is we enjoyed ourselves and gave our full support to the sport.
Gayle has no intersst in West Indies cricket..Drop his tail self, and let’s move on.No Gayle means a better West Indies cricket team.
I like Sammy, and i like the WICB. No Gayle man. Who is Gayle. O shate man!
Objective I am. I believe Gayle wants to play cricket. Did one see the other side of the coin? Can you remember the comments the coach made? Chanderpaul was very vocal also. What was his penalty?
Bird go and fly… Antigua has zero,nought,nothing, none, nada, no, cricketers now.all you days are gone.!
You are not in a position to influuence anything now.
Don’t worry guys, one day (I hope) it will be Dominica’s time to shine and get all the positive attention, not Antigua, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana and any other island
bird i support you as the leader of ur party but when it comes to that catch ur wings and FLY AWAY
Someone need to remind Lester Bird that the shoe is now on the other feet, gone are the days when the probability of bribes, and other political influenced caused seven Antiguan’s or more to dominate West Indies Cricket; remember your boast Lester, that Antiguan’s were going to take over West Indies Cricket.
As a result the better players of the rest of the Caribbean including Dominica suffered discrimination, and disrespect from the selectors, how many Dominicans cricketing career was killed because of the prejudicial, and bias way in which the team was selected.
The careers of Dominica’s Norbert Philip, Lockheart Sebastian, Kentish, Caleb Laurent, even the late Grayson Shillingford was treated in his prime: he was ignored after only a few test, Irvin Shillingford was ignored until it was too late, when he made his appearance in Trinidad, in which he was successful he was again overlooked in favor of an Antiguan!
You appreciated it then; all because your hope, and the talk among Antiguan’s was that ” Antigua” would possess the West Indies team. Time has change Lester, the shoe has now changed feet. Do you remember Jefferes Warrington, a Dominica born Carib, who represented Antigua and the Leeward Island at first class cricket level.
Warrington without a doubt was one of the best spin bowlers the West Indies has ever saw, he never got a chance, he was better than Willet however, under the Antiguan influence they picked Willet over Warrington
Do you remember those days?
Some of us do; you need to simply come the realization that political influence in anything can only last for a time, just as you are a washed up politician, Gale has become a washed up waste of time, how much do you and Antigua willing to pay to get him back on the team.
It would appear that their is no corruption game been played right now in order for any one island natives to dominate West Indies Cricket anymore. Wherever their are plenty of Antiguan’s involved there is corruption!
Francisco Etienne-Telemaque
But wait naah. Doesn’t Antigua and Jamaica have problems/issues such as high crime & unemployment, the need for improved education & infrastructure for their respective leaders to deal with?
Some of these Caribbean leaders cannot even solve
basic problems in their respective island nations but they want to dictate to the WICB how to run its affairs.
@Doc.Love, hogwash……
I agree totally with Mr. Bird. The CEO of WICB should not go and apologize in secret in the PM office. He should apologize in public. They too damn out of place. We are seeing a breakdown not only in Dominica but all over the caribbean. Further more Gayle should be back on the WIC team so people will go and watch cricket.
shows again a lack of focus and direction in the Caribbean at almost all levels Cricket,Liat and CLICO etc…
wonce atandards are not adhered too and accountability isnt a high priority in any levels on institutions,, you can preach till Kingdom arrives nothing will ever bear fruit..
Just shows again lack of vision in the region…now that sponsorship is high etc monies floating around, in regards to the 60,70,80s era when players didnt have that sort of tech and formal aspects to the game we down here in the region havent learnt anything AT ALL..
when Windies were on Top the other Countries like the Aussie reviewed our success story and took it back to their drawing board and we havent learnt anything…
where was our rotation back then to have a flow of players coming into the game and feeling part of the windies culture and pride in cricket.
rememeber Haynes and Greendige at the top of their games for years folks like Sebo etc..never got a ODI…shows what you call vision and direction…the Aussies saw that..when G & H left we didnt have a clue also our fast bowlers etc..
what i dislike in the caribbean folks who are qualified and boast of knowing so much drawing hefty salaries..dont have anything to show under their management..and that why the caribbean still havent made many strides internationaly as it should…we need to hold our bro man responsible for their actions and still have a drink after a hard discus on issues..
its lacks big time in the caribbean at all levels
Maturity!
i am certainly NO FAN of cricket but i thought i had to add my op. its nice although ironic that the 3 islands chosen for the game against australia are windward islands and i am certainly happy for them, although i am from st lucia but my on/off game watchin thru the yrs we would notice mainly barb,antig,guya,trin, jamai, ITS about time the smaller less cricket crazy islands get a piece of the pie..
Antigua in my view acts like a renegade island very very selfish much like barbados at times, dominica is a loyal cbean island and they hardly get to share in regional growth prospects.
Whats wrong with a WICB board disagreeing with any Prime Minister, no one should put anybody above them Be it prime ministers or neighbours, love self 1st then your neighbour Obama has gotten so much criticism/with racist slurs as well be it from journalist,repub,or ppl on the street.[A REPublican once told him “YOU lie” When Obama was deliverying state of the union address REMEMBER?So our mediocre Prime Ministers in the caribbean can be criticized at the simple and higher levels.. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.. all have sinned and are imperfect..stop honouring these prime ministers too much my caribbean bros..Some are not worth it
Mr.Bird some of your statement leaves many of us from the smaller islands pondering on a few things. For example, what is so wrong with the game hosting country,Dominica? Jamaica has hosted numerous test matches and many of the islands, especially the smaller islands have shown their full support to Jamaica and cricket. At that time we lack many of the infrastructure necessary to host these games. We accepted that and despite this lack we supported Jamaica, Barbados,Guyana and even Antigua when you all did the hosting. So why all this animosity now that Dominica has been chosen to host this test? We surely have the infrastructure now. Are we not part of the same Caribbean you keep referencing in your interviews?
Another point Mr.Bird, the Jamaica editorial ran a news item in which you stated ““We must maximize the power of cricket as an integrating force and use it to bind us as Caribbean people, not divide us.”
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/-You-re-not-Portia-s-equal—-Bird-blasts-Hilaire–WICB-as-cricket-controversy-grows-#ixzz1oFlGVSZw
your statement in this interview is contrary to what you are saying. It leaves many of us as Caribbean nationals to see why the entire vision of OECS integration, Cari-com integration, CCJ are just a pipe dream.
In conclusion, your colleague, Dr.Ralph Gonzales of St.Vincent and the Grenadines has been very wise in advocating to governments in the region to be careful not to overstep their bounds when it comes to the game of cricket. He has recognize that once governments get involve, the game will suffer. This is exactly the path we are heading. We the people of the Caribbean are watching.
Sammy told the world the captaincy is overrated. Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards must have been wearing airplugs on that day. Then he said the west indies will be ranked number 5 by 2015. I guess by then he will be out of cricket as a captain for west indies. I am still wondering why the West Indies board did not make an apology to it fans for the capatian making such a comment. I know as a kid playing sports your goal is to always be number one. I have nothing against Sammy but he is one of the worst captains. The board needs to wake up and see what the rest of the world is doing when it comes to cricket. England have 3 captains, Ausi have 3 west indies and india are the only 2 teams with one captain but you cannot campare dhoni to sammy.
In all the years I have been hearing of this saga, I have never heard the WICB issue not one apology themselves. I mean, this has been going on since what? 1995? And in all those years you’re telling me that the WICB was right on every single occasion? They have to lead by example and be the first to say sorry when they mess up. They know they were wron in how they treated the players. Gayle expressed how he felt, and then he being punished for it. So the WICB want to tell people how they can and cannot feel now? They definitely hold grudges because as Mr Bird said, it seems they are punishing Jamaica for selecting Gayle to represent his country. Pathetic! All the people who though the WICB was right on many of these things have no idea. Lester Bird is not someone who just make ludicrous statements. And his statements have substance, reasoning and justification. WICB, your move, because it is high time that the west Indian governments had stepped in and sorted out your bullish attitude. Soon the public will begin to ge irate too. I hope you all taking notice of protests going on worldwide
antiguans to greedy they had their fair share of cricket now is our turn give us a break please we never ague when u all were getting all the test we use to pay a flight and be in antigua to support we all west indians stop that bickerring and support dominica
These Leaders are angry because Dominica got a few matches thanks to our Stadium. When their countries were getting all the attention Dominica said nothing,we don’t even a player on the West Indies side. Down with CARICOM and OECS unity,it is DOG eat DOG,every State for Themselves.
Sri Lanka came second in the last World Cup and the entire Board of Directors tendered their resignation, however the regional team failed so miserable and instead heads roll they stayed there frustrating our senior and star players.
you couldnt have said it better AND THEY SHOULD ALL TENDER THEIR RESIGNATION
how many time have we repeated this to the WICB.. its all about their pockets and having power rather than the pride and success of the game in the region. then after all this is said and done, the board members punish players for commitment..
Sri Lanka came second in the last cricket World Cup and everyone on the board tendered their resignation in the interest of transparancy and pride.
West Indies almost came last and no one moved. Where can we go?
MR. BIRD, WHEN YOU WERE PRIME MINISTER, IF A MEMBER OF YOUR CABINET WAS TO STAND IN PARLIAMENT AND CRITICISE YOUR GOVERNMENT,WOULD YOU TAKE THOSE CRITICISMS AS ONE WISHING TO EXPRESS HIS RIGHT TO CRITICISE. P.M MILLER AND PEOPLE LIKE BIRD MUST ASK GAYLE,WHY HASN’T HE PLAYED A FULL SEASON FOR JAMAICA FAR LESS WEST INDIES. GAYLE’S INTEREST AT THIS POINT OF TIME IS NOT CRICKET BUT MONEY. GAYLE HAS ASKED THE WEST INDIES BOARD FOR A THREE YEAR PERMISSION TO PLAY CRICKET FOR ANY TEAM WHO WANTS TO HIRE HIM WETHER THE MATCHES COINCIDE WITH WEST INDIES SCHEDULE. TELL ME MR. BIRD,IS THAT SOME ONE THAT IS INTERESTED IN WEST INDIES CRICKET.RESENTLY, JAMAICA SELECTED GAYLE TO PLAY THE IN PROGRESS FOUR DAY CRICKET TOURNMENT, HE PLAYED ONLY ONE GAME AND LEFT TO PLAY IN BANGLADESH FOR $50,000. SAMMY WAS ALSO OFFERED A CONTRACT TO PLAY IN BANGLADESH,HE REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE CONTRACT IN ORDER TO PLAY THE FOUR DAY TOURNAMENT,THEREFORE,WHO IS MORE COMMITTED TO WEST INDIES CRICKET.
@ Doc.Love,hogwash……..I suggest you get your facts straight before making silly statements….please properly analyse Mr.Bird article…
Yeah, and get out of those CAPS. too and use proper punctuation! it makes my eyes hurt man.
@Doc.Love, hogwash
@Doc.Love – Ohhhhhhhh absolutely lovely points Doc.Love. You certainly are one of the right thinking persons who can clearly see the truth in this Gayle saga. Well done!!
On the other hand, there are some confused individuals who deliberately choose to continue ignoring the truth.
It is so sad.
Too much politics in WICB cricket. The schedule for the Australian series was posted months ago why did they not comment then. But as soon as Dominica got a test match all hell breaking loose. What has Dominica done to these islands that they do not like us? But I am saying may Dominica continue to move forward into newer and higher heights. And let our beautiful country economy and standard of living improve tremendously better than the rest.
what has d/ca got to do with it its about the board & chris if chris was a dominician u all would b going mad
What does anything said in the article have to do with Dominica? The man is right! WICB need a kick up the…
U all must to read the whole article ….@eagles125 has a point…..Bird has made reference to the population of the island selected for the games…
Let Jamaica field their own team. No more bickering!
This is getting out of hand..We need a new WICB. the way things are going , canada and zimbabwe will be able to beat the WEsi indies team anytime , anywhere.
This would be entirely feasible if we are to go by population figures, which apparently mr. Bird wants to use as a marker. The entire OECS population hardly represents 1/4 of Jamaica’s headcount. Yet, we all insist of having our own stadiums and a piece of a a diminishing pie. It is understandable that national governments increasingly are tempted to get involved in this fray. However, in the interest of maintaining regional unity and purpose, we should let a regional body manage our favourite sport without political interference before it fizzles out in sparks of acrimony, leaving our stadiums all but empty because we have killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.