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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Lessons from cricket for nation building</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Henley Morgan
Thursday, March 15, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>To put the dismal performance of the present crop of cricketers representing the West Indies into perspective, one must first understand the game that cricket is. In an insightful article, the December 18, 1999 edition of The Economist examined the attributes of the most demanding sports to find out which poses the greatest test of human skill and endurance. After looking at the world's most popular professional sports including boxing, rugby, American football, soccer, athletics, golf, basketball, hockey, tennis and baseball the article concluded, "We choose cricket as the paramount sport."<P class=StoryText align=justify>According to The Economist, to identify the sport that is most challenging to the human physical and psychological constitution, one must first eliminate all but those that are played with a ball. Controlling a spherical object requires the individual to intensely focus the eyes to the limits of their capability. At the same time every muscle must respond to thousands of messages being fired along the neurons to the brain. The anatomical and mental functions must be coordinated to allow the individual to react with great precision and in a split second. If the ball is moving towards the individual then the response of the human body becomes even more miraculous.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The ball used to play cricket is relatively small and rock hard. It comes at the batsman at varying speeds, which at the upper limit can exceed 155 kph. The trajectory of the ball may take it directly from the bowler's hand to the bat, or it may be bounced off a pitch with a measure of spin. The bowler may take advantage of atmospheric or innumerable other factors belonging to the domain of physics that cause the ball to increase in kinetic energy and to move unpredictably.<P class=StoryText align=justify>That is not all. A batsman may need to defy the bowlers, who are changed and rested after short spells, for a day or more with only the briefest respite for lunch and tea. The longer form of the game can go on for five days, played under boiling tropical sun and with players having to contend with the distraction of blaring music in a carnival atmosphere. No two playing surfaces are alike. Prepared to give the home team an advantage, it is not uncommon to hear a commentator say there is a "devil" in the pitch.<P class=StoryText align=justify>So numerous are the vagaries of the game, the advantages of genetics are largely nullified. Unlike some other sports where brawn can be a decisive factor, some of the most successful cricketers, particularly batsmen, have been also the most diminutive. It should be obvious to even a child that the best team is going to be the one with the most skilfully trained, focused, temperamentally balanced, rounded, determined, courageous and disciplined players.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Considering that The Economist believes India's Sachin Tendulkar is a more complete sportsman than Michael Jordan ever was, one begins to understand that cricket is underestimated and taken for granted by many in the West Indies who manage, play and watch it.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Cricket is a global sport played at the highest level by people of diverse nationalities, cultures and races. There is more than a passing similarity between the desperate straits in which the West Indies cricket team finds itself in international competition and what Jamaica is experiencing in the throes of globalisation. By studying the cricket team, the country can learn a lesson or two about the root causes of the current difficulties.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The most obvious shortcomings include:
(1) Failure to recognise that the paradigm has shifted from just ph
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Henley Morgan
Thursday, March 15, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>To put the dismal performance of the present crop of cricketers representing the West Indies into perspective, one must first understand the game that cricket is. In an insightful article, the December 18, 1999 edition of The Economist examined the attributes of the most demanding sports to find out which poses the greatest test of human skill and endurance. After looking at the world's most popular professional sports including boxing, rugby, American football, soccer, athletics, golf, basketball, hockey, tennis and baseball the article concluded, "We choose cricket as the paramount sport."<P class=StoryText align=justify>According to The Economist, to identify the sport that is most challenging to the human physical and psychological constitution, one must first eliminate all but those that are played with a ball. Controlling a spherical object requires the individual to intensely focus the eyes to the limits of their capability. At the same time every muscle must respond to thousands of messages being fired along the neurons to the brain. The anatomical and mental functions must be coordinated to allow the individual to react with great precision and in a split second. If the ball is moving towards the individual then the response of the human body becomes even more miraculous.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The ball used to play cricket is relatively small and rock hard. It comes at the batsman at varying speeds, which at the upper limit can exceed 155 kph. The trajectory of the ball may take it directly from the bowler's hand to the bat, or it may be bounced off a pitch with a measure of spin. The bowler may take advantage of atmospheric or innumerable other factors belonging to the domain of physics that cause the ball to increase in kinetic energy and to move unpredictably.<P class=StoryText align=justify>That is not all. A batsman may need to defy the bowlers, who are changed and rested after short spells, for a day or more with only the briefest respite for lunch and tea. The longer form of the game can go on for five days, played under boiling tropical sun and with players having to contend with the distraction of blaring music in a carnival atmosphere. No two playing surfaces are alike. Prepared to give the home team an advantage, it is not uncommon to hear a commentator say there is a "devil" in the pitch.<P class=StoryText align=justify>So numerous are the vagaries of the game, the advantages of genetics are largely nullified. Unlike some other sports where brawn can be a decisive factor, some of the most successful cricketers, particularly batsmen, have been also the most diminutive. It should be obvious to even a child that the best team is going to be the one with the most skilfully trained, focused, temperamentally balanced, rounded, determined, courageous and disciplined players.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Considering that The Economist believes India's Sachin Tendulkar is a more complete sportsman than Michael Jordan ever was, one begins to understand that cricket is underestimated and taken for granted by many in the West Indies who manage, play and watch it.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Cricket is a global sport played at the highest level by people of diverse nationalities, cultures and races. There is more than a passing similarity between the desperate straits in which the West Indies cricket team finds itself in international competition and what Jamaica is experiencing in the throes of globalisation. By studying the cricket team, the country can learn a lesson or two about the root causes of the current difficulties.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The most obvious shortcomings include:
(1) Failure to recognise that the paradigm has shifted from just ph