Being a professional athlete means more than just what a person is capable of doing in the field of play. A pro should always be trying to improve in his or her craft, putting in the hours to maintain high levels of fitness, honing their skills, improving on their weaknesses and solidifying their strengths.
The very best ones go on to become stars and superstars while the role players ensure that playing standards remain high. We see that in the NBA, NFL, Premier League, LaLiga and other competitions that command the attention of tens of millions of people globally.
Cricket is no different.
The batsmen, who are among the best work hard to be at peak physical levels. They study the game and become masters of their sport. They undertake mental exercises that ensure that their minds remain alert, sharp for those critical moments in a competition where all the elements of their preparation come together in the execution of that decisive moment that alters the course of a match.
With all this in mind, how do some of our cricketers explain coming into the 2020 Hero CPL looking like giant blowfish?
Even with the uncertainty of the times when the pandemic is raging, there was always the possibility that the CPL would be on. The IPL, too, is also a possibility. Several of these players have contracts with franchises in the richest T20 league in the world.
So, what explains their decision to come to play looking like me after months of sitting at home stuffing my face with goodies from my kitchen? It’s embarrassing. And I am not the only one who believes this.
One former cricketer mentioned in a group of which I am a member that one of the players was as thick as Berbice mud.
The reactions on social media were equally telling.
“Cricketers here look like “Gerber Babies and Pillsbury man”, “COVID Realization: West Indies cricketers care zero about belly appearance”.
It is even more embarrassing when you see the players from other countries, who are also experiencing the pandemic, looking fit and sharp. I will take the opportunity here to heap praise upon Andre Russell, who has come in looking lean and ready. If you follow his Instagram you see the work he puts in as he prepared to compete in the CPL and later this year, the IPL.
Unfortunately, there are others who lack similar levels of commitment to professionalism.
Maybe that is why West Indies cricket struggles the way it does. It’s all about attitude and aptitude and the perception right now is that some of the region’s best players lack both.