The taller of the two boys throws a left hook, the shorter guy ducks under the blow and rushes his bigger counterpart throwing his entire body at him. They fall to the floor, arms and legs flailing. Punches were exchanged and the adults there tried to stop the two boys from fighting but with very little success. It took the intervention of an off duty cop who was scoring the game to finally break up the two. It must be noted too that she had to identify herself as a policewoman and threaten to report the matter to the station in order to get them to stop. She also needed the assistance of a fire officer to separate the boys and quell the fight.

Such was the dressing room of the Leeward Islands team during one of the games played in   St. Kitts. There are also unconfirmed reports that this was not the first fight among this team yet, come match time, everything seems fine and dandy. In fact I was appalled after getting a first-hand account of the fight to see both youngsters suited up for the very next match that the Leeward Islands team played. And worse, they both played!

In a setting like this, the coach and manager are the disciplinarians and, with all due respect to John Archibald and Ronald Powell, I must say that the two should have been at least dropped for that game. I also believed that this matter was so grave that they would report it to the Leeward Islands Board and the respective islands would take action.

I was never more wrong, the West Indies U-19 competition has come and gone and the Leeward Islands cricket competition has started. Both players are in the team of their respective islands and have already played in the competition.

I firmly believe that we are sending the wrong message to these players when they fight and carry on and absolutely nothing is done. When they receive nothing more than a tap on the hand for such behaviour we tend to lose them. The lack of discipline shown here creeps into their game and in the long run we lose them as players. Moreover, when we try to cover up these things they tend to fester like a sore and develop into an almost incurable condition.

As coaches and managers, we also have to teach conflict resolution and it must be pointed out that there are consequences for one's actions. They have talent and they want to play and that should be a part of the lesson plan. If they are going to breach our disciplinary code then they should not play.

The players were in St. Kitts representing a sub-region in a regional competition. When the team moved around they all dressed alike with the inscription LEEWARDS on their chest. Does this mean anything to them?One of the two was selected for the West Indies U-19 squad. These guys are expected to camp together for a period of time before going off to Malaysia for the World Cup. This setting is an even bigger stage, a higher level of representation. What we are doing here is passing on the problem to the West Indies’ managers and coaches. What if the same conflict arises at that level? Would he beat up Sharmarh Brooks and then suit up for the next game? Of course, because that is what he learnt here!  I am a star player; nobody can do anything to me.

We are passing the buck; if nothing is done at the island level or at the sub-regional level, this guy may very well make it to the West Indies youth team. But then again we like to blame everything on the West Indies Board.

Our backyard is no exception to similar incidents. One of the players from the U 19 team during an off day took the opportunity to play in a trial game for St. Kitts. He did not like his dismissal, in fact it was a questionable one but the point is he was given out and should simply have accepted it as a hard one. Instead the youngster went into an uncontrollable rage, expletives included and in the presence of the manager and coach of the team. Incidentally the manager is from his area and had nurtured and coached him along in his younger days. He later refused to take the field when it was his team's turn to bowl. Well the local association did a wise thing. He was not included in the squad for the first match against Nevis and we were later reliably informed that a report on him was sent to the Disciplinary Committee.

We will monitor this situation closely, for it has been noticed that when we butter up these players and treat them as untouchables, they further embarrass us in the long run and we lose them.

Several years ago we saw a youngster with some very embarrassing behaviour at Warner Park in front of fans, one of his parents and cricket officials. The next week he was appointed as captain of the St. Kitts side; it was almost like a reward for bad behaviour. Fortunately, that young man’s behaviour has not grown worse, but has improved over time. On the other hand, we have several that have gone so far that they need psychological help.

Somewhere along the line they did not learn the skills of conflict resolution, anger management, or group dynamics and thus team managers and coaches, along with parents, have the final responsibility to teach them in quick time. My strong suggestion is to take away what they love most, even for a while, and then they will open up to learn other equally important skills.

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