By Zaheer E. Clarke
Published January 9, 2017, in the Western Mirror.
Sportsmen and sportswomen are often conflicted with the option of playing sports for financial security or for pride and country. For many, the choice is simple.
Simon Lister won the 2016 Cricket Society & MCC Book of the Year award for his Fire in Babylon, How the West Indies Cricket Team Brought a People to its Feet. © Lord’s
Over the Christmas holidays, I was engrossed with a book, which described the ‘good old days’ of West Indies cricket. The award-winning book, “Fire in Babylon: How the West Indies Cricket Team Brought a People to Its Feet” – written by Simon Lister – contained incalculable stories of how the West Indies cricket team, birthed from the ashes, rose to prominence in world cricket. The book was refreshing, captivating and illuminating. And as the winter nights during the Christmas holidays grew cold, Lister’s book provided much-needed warmth to my shivering heart.
On the contrary, South Africa’s warm summer of content, which saw them capture Test match series victories over Australia and Sri Lanka respectively, turned frigidly cold last week with the news that two of their players, Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw, will be quitting international cricket to commence Kolpak deals to play county cricket in England. West Indies is not new to Kolpak or other such deals, which have seen players choose between playing for groceries or country. Continue reading
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