Samuels Torpedoed by his Own Board?

Orin Davidson has a good piece on the Marlon Samuels affair HERE:

http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=14536

"The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) cannot help shooting itself in the foot even if euphemism is eliminated completely from the English language.

Its latest self inflicted wound has not only seriously torpedoed the career of one of the team’s talented batsmen, but again advertised the Board as an example of how best to run one’s self into the ground.

Marlon Samuels committed a misdeed, but it is a tragedy he has to suffer as draconian a penalty as a two- year ban which the WICB allowed to be slapped on the player in the blink of an eye.

And how many more cases you have in the past of players getting caught using marijuana without having to endure anything close to a two-year ban?

Yet the WICB through its new Chief Executive Officer Donald Peters saw little problem in tipping Samuels down the cliff.

Peters, who is fast turning out to be a nightmare to West Indies cricket, following his bungling of the IPL players’ issue and for fouling up basic logistics for the recent Sri Lanka tour, claims that the Board’s hands were tied from averting the two-year ban.

If anything else, his eyes appear tied shut to the happenings in the cricket world.
For foolishly deciding to furnish Kochar with team information, Samuels deserves punishment for his action, which should’ve amounted to nothing more than a fine and or suspension for a number of games.

Instead, he faces the prospect of the loss of his career and livelihood, thanks to his ruling Board which is now crying crocodile tears of how sad they are about the player’s plight.

Samuels must now be wondering where are people like the Reverend Wes Hall when he needs them most in West Indies cricket.

Interesting read. There are many who have benefited financially from their involvement in West Indies Cricket and they have not been banned from working. Remember the Lucky Report?

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The Marlon Samuels Judgement

Read it here:

http://caribbeancricket.com/news/2008/05/16/2729


I fully concur with Justice Bishop's opinion. I will single out the following paragraphs:

"My colleagues would appear to have disregarded the point, though they acknowledge that MARLON SAMUELS’ situation described a special case, but they relegated its merit to the belated stage of mitigation of sentence, rather than elevate it to the status of an impeccable factor that tested the alleged verity of the Board’s charge. An attempt by the Board to propose that the hotel bill, paid for by MR. KOCHHAR has not yet been repaid by Samuels and therefore discredits his plea of innocence, is an example of venturing into the extraneous, since one or more of several events could have contributed to SAMUELS’ failure to repay the money in reasonable time.

On the question of sentence, I had regard to the majority decision [3:1] and proposed that our tribunal should, in the strongest possible terms, frown on the concept of MANDATORY SENTENCING, in this special case of MARLON SAMUELS, where the allegation suggested a FIRST OFFENCE by a person who has many MERIT MARKS to his credit, but is established to be wanting in capacity to commit the act alleged against him. The fact of a money payment was not enough to establish the Board’s case. More relevant evidence was required but nothing more was presented."

I can see nothing in this report to warrant a 2 year ban. Based on the flimsy evidence, most of us, including many who sit in judgment, would be behind bars. I am not surprised with the majority decision led by Justice Saunders. I expect nothing better from him. I am surprised that Riche was part of that majority. And I applaud the position of Justice Bishop.

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Richie on the Marlon Samuels Ban

Richie Richardson on the Marlon Samuels Decision:

“I’m very disappointed. I’ve had sleepless nights after that hearing. I think what happened is unfortunate,” Richardson said on Thursday.

“Based on what I heard and the evidence I heard at that hearing, it is my opinion that nothing that Marlon Samuels did or was involved with would have warranted him being banned for two years.”

The disciplinary committee was headed by Justice Adrian Saunders, who I have little regard for. They may have made a decision on the basis of legalities that only they understand. Jurists tend to be impersonal and are not equipped to deal with matters of this nature. Stacking the deck with 3 jurists could lead to no other result.

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The Marlon Samuels Saga

A very sad saga indeed. Or perhaps a long road to self-destruction. I certainly feel for the young man and wonder if the cricketing authorities have not contributed to his demise.

The Jamaican cricket authorities are always protective of their players, casting aside any criticism as biased against Jamaicans. I recall also that the then President of the WICB, Rev. Wes Hall, intervened to block Marlon's expulsion from a Tour to India for indiscipline when Viv was Chairman of Selectors.

The Jamaican Authorities need to do some introspection. This incident, plus the illegal bowling situations involving Marlon and Jermaine Lawson are cases in point. They also need to watch the development of young Marshall carefully.

I hope that Marlon can be rehabilitated and that some opportunity would be available for him to play some cricket and earn a living (perhaps the ICL?). We should not allow him to deteriorate as has happened to other well know ex-players.

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When Are We Going To Stop......

There is a piece in the online edition of Fox Sports about the Australians in Jamaica. Among other things the article reported that:

"As with any tour of the caribbean, there was also the usual run of minor mishaps.

The bowling machine broke down before even delivering a ball. After a few puzzled looks, team management eventually got the message across to ground staff that a new fuse was needed.

It was to no avail though. The same groundsman sent to find a new fuse was reportedly seen scratching around under the bonnet of a car shortly after, with the bowling machine still out of commission by the end of practice."

When are we going to stop embarrassing ourselves in the eyes of the world?

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