I was flabbergasted when I read that article by Holding!
Just a few comments on the above points....
1) You only have to read the comments under articles in newspapers such as the Jamaica Observer to see that more and more Jamaicans are calling for their country to leave the West Indies.
2) I don't expect there to be a break-up, but if the BCCI push for a big-money payout from the WICB, that might push the discussion on to the table.
3) Logically, teams would perform worse if broken up, but how much worse can you get than eighth in the Test rankings and eighth in the ODI rankings? It's only in T20 cricket that the region is potentially world-beaters. Would it make that much of a difference?
4) Yes, international cricket needs the West Indies. Therefore, I hope the BCCI think long and hard about what decisions they come to on Tuesday....
5) Money is just part of the issue, as we can see in that Michael Holding article. Half of the players in the team have IPL contracts. The bigger issue seems to be the WICB mismanaging its players.
6) The big problem is that the WICB reports to no one, because there is no Caribbean government. National sporting associations have less problems, because in the end, they're accountable to the people through their elected officials.
7) Well, if Jamaica and Guyana can beat Ireland, as they did earlier this year, and Ireland are supposed to be the next cab on the rank for Test status, then they could very realistically challenge the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
8) Afghanistan entered the Associates competition at the Division Five level in 2008, and by 2009 they had soared through the levels to Division One. That could easily happen to Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados and/or Trinidad.
9) Yes, the smaller islands would get screwed. That's why I hope no attempt is made to bankrupt the WICB....
Nobody has a stance quite like the mighty Shivnarine....
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