by DAVID HINDS

Like every cricket enthusiast I get caught up with the last bad shot played or the recent defeat or the centurion of the day or the averages of the batsmen and the bowlers or who should and should not be selected. But I also want to understand and convey the larger social-political and cultural significance of what occurs on the cricket field. So when I write, that's what is on my mind. Even when I actually say so, I am less interested in whether Sarwan and Gayle should be on the list of West Indian players who could walk into a proper team. Even if I include them it does not change my fundamental point that the present West Indies team is not short of vacancies. Similarly, while Darren Sammy is my personal choice for captain of the West Indies team, I am less interested in Sammy the person and more concerned about us encouraging a particular type of leadership that can resist the lure of globalized individualism and articulate in words, deeds and attitude a Caribbean nationalism.