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Cricket in the West Indies

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The West Indies cricket is a sporting confederation of over a dozen mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries and dependencies that formed the British West Indies.

Cricket is traditionally the main sport in the West Indies (though others sports such as football and basketball have challenged its dominance from around the 1990s onwards). The British West Indies hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

The West Indies consists of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States Virgin Islands.

Cricket is also played in other Caribbean territories such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands who are associate members of the International Cricket Council whilst the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Belize, Suriname and Cuba are affiliate members.

History

Origin

Cricket originally spread to the West Indies via the British military. Military officials established clubs, including St. Annes Garrison Club, and integrated cricket pitches into garrisons in the Caribbean. The first reference of cricket in the press of the West Indies appeared in the Barbados Mercury and Bridgetown Gazzette in June of 1806. Two years afterward, a cricket match was held between the officers of the Royal West Indies Rangers and the officers of the Third West Indian Regiment. Since then, cricket began to develop into a major feature of West Indian and Caribbean culture and sport.[1]

Expansion of Cricket

With the continued colonisation of the West Indies by the British Empire came the adoption of many British ideals and activities by many African slaves and their descendents. This adoption was a consequence of constant positive reinforcement from their masters for participating in activities that were familiar such as cricket, and abstaining from those that were perceived as taboo. Eventually, slaves were granted permission to play with military officials, who at one point only played cricket amongst themselves, in restricted roles. Foremost, they were allowed to practice throwing and some were permitted to bowl or retrieve batted balls.

The first official reference to cricket in the West Indies is believed to be from June 1806, in the newspaper The Barbados Mercury and Bridgetown Gazette . Two years later The Gazette reported an official match being played between the Officers of the Royal West Indies Rangers and the Officers of the Third West Indian Regiment. It is believed that the military was a major influencing force behind the drive to begin playing cricket in the West Indies. Supporting this fact, there were known to be cricket pitches located in many garrisons all around the Caribbean [2].

As official cricket clubs began to form, a few black players were given the opportunity to play for white-majority clubs. However, many cricket clubs remained exclusively white, forcing black players to establish their own clubs that would only allow other blacks to join. Clubs such as the Barbados Cricket Committee (BCC), which was established in the late nineteenth century, adhered to the policy of an all-white team, while Jamaica's Melbourne club was composed of only coloured professionals.

The first inter-island competition took place in 1865 between Demerera and Barbados. However, these matches were at first "organized and played almost exclusively by whites."[3] Over time, inter-racial games became more and more common, as black and white teams competed at first in an attempt to prove their dominance over the other the other territories. Some segregation still occurred, for instance black players were excluded "from clubhouse refreshment breaks during and after the game".[4] Gradually, blacks began to be employed on professional teams, marking the start of the decline of segregation in the sport.[5]

Societal Impact

Cricket is traditionally the most popular sport in the West Indies, despite their independence from the United Kingdom. Games between England and West Indies teams during the post-colonization period were fraught with underlying political tension. [6]

The inclusion of black players in the West Indies team marked a moment of democratic integration in society. The talented West Indies players helped to overturn an existing idea of racial supremacy. [7]

Governing body

Main article: West Indies Cricket Board

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in the West Indies. It was originally formed in the early 1920s as the West Indies Cricket Board of Control (and is still sometimes referred by that name), but changed its name in 1996. The Board has its headquarters in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda.

The WICB has been a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1926 and is also a member of Americas Cricket Association. It operates the West Indies cricket team and West Indies A cricket team, organising Test tours and one-day internationals with other teams.

Domestic competition

See also: Regional Four Day Competition, WICB Cup, and Caribbean Twenty20

The West Indies' two major domestic competitions are the Regional Four Day Competition (First-class competition) and the WICB President's Cup (List A one-day competition) and more recently the Caribbean Twenty20 (domestic Twenty20 competition - replacing the Stanford 20/20 which was mainly funded and organized by Sir Allen Stanford). Other domestic competitions include the TCL Under-19 West Indies Challenge (three-day first class competition), TCL Under-19 West Indies Challenge Limited Overs Series (one-day limited overs competition), CLICO West Indies Under-15 competition and the WIWCF Women's Senior Tournament. One prominent former competition (not originally organized by the WICB) was the Inter-Colonial Tournament.

In the case of the Carib Beer Cup and the WICB Cup the following first-class domestic teams participate:

For the TCL Under-19 West Indies Challenge (both the first class and limited overs competitions) it is the Under-19 squads for these teams which participate, while for the CLICO Under-15 West Indies tournament it is the Under-15 squads for these teams which participate. In the 2004 TCL Under-19 Challenge the Under-19 Bermuda cricket team and an Under-19 combined Americas cricket team also took part.

In the WIWCF Senior Tournament and the Stanford 20/20 competition the separate components of the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands compete individually. Additionally for the Stanford 20/20 competition teams from outside the West Indies sporting confederation, but within the Caribbean, also compete including the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba (which was barred from competing in 2008 by the U.S. embargo), the Turks and Caicos Islands (both competing in 2008) as well as the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (announced for the 2009 edition of the Stanford 20/20).

Representative team

Main article: West Indies cricket team

The West Indies cricket team, also known colloquially as The Windies or The West Indies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of the West Indies.

The "Windies" is one of the ten elite international teams that play at the Test match cricket-level.


References

  1. ^ Malcolm, p. ??
  2. ^ Globalizing Cricket: Englishness, Empire, and Identity by Dominic Malcolm
  3. ^ Malcolm, p. ???
  4. ^ Malcolm, p. ???
  5. ^ Malcolm, p. ???
  6. ^ Malcolm, Dominic (2013). Globalizing Cricket Codification, Colonization and Contemporary Identities. Bloomsbury USA Academic. p. 77. ISBN 978-1849665278.
  7. ^ Malcolm, Dominic (2013). Globalizing Cricket Codification, Colonization and Contemporary Identities. Bloomsbury USA Academic. p. 83. ISBN 978-1849665278.

Bibliography

External links

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