Christopher Columbus must be smiling – Caribbean Premier League completes the cricketing circle

While probably not being a closet cricketer, it was Captain Chris; 1492; who set out to sail to very prosperous East Indies, including Japan, which he could have eventually achieved, by heading west.

Had he not crashed into San Salvador and other Caribbean islands, then travelled south to Trinidad & Tobago, even sailing along coasts of Venezuela and the Guianas on his last voyage, unbelievably not recognizing the mainland, Chris would have succeeded in proving that the world was indeed an oval.

Many of us have enjoyed that great Warner Brothers/Looney Tunes cartoon, starring Bugs Bunny, where CCC is desperately trying to convince then monarchs of Spain, especially Queen Isabela, and his rebellious crew too, that “the world, she is a-round”, while most still thought that the world was flat.

The Italian captain would be ecstatic with the eventual realization of Caribbean Premier League, for the CPL, as played in Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Jamaica, T&T and Guyana, also facilitates that third, westerly, somewhat circular, at least in our great sport, worldly set of journeys and connections.

Similar T-20 cricketing leagues have happened in proverbial north; England; which supposedly “discovered” T-20’s, then to the near east; India; which really popularized the format, along with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, thence to our earth’s deep south; Australia and New Zealand.

That second set of such world journeys came courtesy of Captain Chris Columbus and others too.

That was the Slave Trade.

Those all-encompassing, long, dangerous, disastrous journeys, costing millions of lives, from West Africa, brought slaves to plantations in the Caribbean and Americas; then boats traveled back to Europe with produce and booty of our bounteous region; thus completing that dastardly, circuitous “Triangular Trade”.

Sir Walter Raleigh is one of premier seafarers who landed, circa 1595, in British Guiana, now Guyana, and some of the rest of South America, including Venezuela, with indigenous Amerindians present.

He came here with that massive hope of finding gold and riches from what is still perceived to be that “City of Gold” – Manoa - “El Dorado.”

CPL certainly realize such riches.

If that was not enough, immediately after slavery ended - August 01, 1838 - indentured laborers, including indigenous Indians, Portuguese and Chinese, were corralled, paid a small stipend, and brought to the region to replace the freed slaves.

Hence that scintillating melting pot of personnel in our region. Just check out the dancing, prancing ladies.

It is no mistake or special anomaly that the world’s best T-20 cricketers - Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy, Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo – hail from the Caribbean.

The late Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Frank Worrell, along with that other extremely great “W”, Sir Everton Weekes, who is still, thankfully, with us, must also be very satisfied with the creation of CPL.

This has really been a situation extremely long in coming.

While at Central High School, even before I first played for Guyana’s Youth team in 1970, I had heard from Principal Rudy Luck that Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago had so many very good cricketers that, in reality, they could have exported cricketers to help other Caribbean countries.

Sir Clyde, Allan Ray, Stephen Camacho, Clive Lloyd and Deryck Murray always lamented that the Caribbean was not rich, adventurous or ingenious enough back then to make that suggestion a reality.

Now, the rainbow of Caribbean Premier League makes all aspiring and former Caribbean cricketers smile.

Can you imagine Keith and Ovid Glasgow, Basil Williams, Theo Cuffy, Andrew Lyght, Roy Fredericks, Norbert Phillip, Keith Boyce, Collis King and Randolph Ramnarace in CPL? They would be dynamic.

When West Indies ruled international cricket’s roost, 1975 – 1995, many excellent players could not get in our international team, players who would have easily slipped into other international outfits.

1970’s and 1980’s regional players Emerson Trotman, Victor Eddy, Franklyn Stevenson, Rolston Otto, Jim Allen, Richard De Sousa, Timur Mohammed, Prince Bartholemew, even Wayne Daniel and Faoud Bacchus, who did play a few Tests and ODI’s for West Indies, would have loved CPL.

All former Caribbean cricketers would have clamored to have CPL back then, just simply to make a living.

In those days, if you did not have another paying job, you could not feed yourself, much less a family.

Now, at least, emerging players and superstars have that golden opportunity.

To see young Caribbean players Christopher Barnwell, Yannick Cariah, Delorn Johnson, Kevon Cooper,Stephen Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul, Sheldon Cotterel and Montcin Hodge having, like Master-Card, that priceless opportunity of rubbing shoulders and learning from present and former internationals like Ricky Ponting, Justin Kemp and Gayle, in teams consisting of varying nationalities, brings tears to eyes.

Making good livings and allowing themselves time and opportunity to be real professional cricketers, with respectable fees, way more than anyone in 1970-80’s made in entire cricket careers, could not hurt either.

Thank you, Christopher Columbus, for insisting that the world is really ‘a-round’.