Bourda debacle must never happen again
Across The Board
From the WICB
All West Indians should now resolve that pitch invasions shall never be repeated in the Caribbean. The sad incident at the Bourda Ground in Guyana last Wednesday must become a watershed in West Indies cricket. A player, Steve Waugh was injured, our team lost a match that they might have won and the reputation of West Indies Cricket was immeasurably tarnished by the scene played out for all the world to see. Security has been a priority for the West Indies Cricket Board for some time. The Board commissioned a security survey of all of the grounds in the Caribbean and the recommendations were sent to the territorial bodies who organise the Test and One Day matches for implementation. There was significant follow up but clearly we will need to investigate and ensure that the implementation is being done correctly. We all must be absolutely clear that matches can not to be held under conditions that are not secure. People can be seriously injured by invading patrons and a continuation of this sort of behaviour will jeopardise the future of international cricket in the West Indies. We therefore can not stage matches at venues where this is likely to happen.
The next Board meeting in May will address this serious issue once again in the light of recent events. Our primary responsibility as organisers of cricket matches is for the safety of players, officials and indeed spectators at the grounds. However, the territorial bodies are dependent on the police for the execution of the crowd control. For example, one of the issues raised by the Guyana experience is the role of the Police in preventing the invasions. There may be need for more briefing or even training of the Police in the specific requirements for crowd control at international cricket matches. However, in spite of an effective Police presence a patron who is determined to flout the rules can still be a serious threat to the safety of the players, spectators and umpires. The attitude of patrons is therefore critical.. While it is only a small percentage of the West Indian crowd that actually invades the field, a few can cause major problems. Last year the WICB ran Public Service Announcements on television urging fans to give their support from the stands. We therefore need to continue efforts to ensure that all West Indians understand the serious implications of invading the grounds. Nevertheless some people will not respond unless there is a severe penalty. Therefore legislation must be introduced throughout the Caribbean to allow the Police to eject persons from the ground and prosecute as well as make provision for the courts to impose stiff penalties. Such laws are already in place in Australia and England. A secondary issue to personal safety is the preservation of the physical facilities such as the stump camera which has been a major source of conflict with patrons who invade the field in search of souvenir stumps. These cameras which allow us an inside view of the cricket are very expensive and security personnel have had to wrestle with patrons to secure them. There is, however, one easy way to solve the problem. Each person who attends a match can commit to not going onto the field. If you really care about our cricket that is the least you can do.
|