#BTEditorial – The disturbing case of Shaquana Quintyne

The careers of most professional sportspersons are rather short. For some athletes who start relatively early and remain injury-free, they might be blessed with perhaps between ten to twenty active years. Track and field athletes with very rare exceptions hardly ply their trade into their forties. Lawn tennis players are considered old in their thirties. Basketballers sinking hoops and footballers scoring goals after age forty at the top professional level are seldom seen. Cricketers on reaching 35-years-old start counting down the days to their retirement.

It is because their shelf life is so short and they generate great income, that most professional sportspersons are paid handsomely. Those who gain endorsement deals to give mileage to various products, equipment and apparel are usually only those at the summit of their sport and possessed of significant public appeal. Professional athletes must make hay while the sun shines. In activities that are primarily physical, sustaining injuries is a constant possibility. Thus, in addition to healthy contracts, insurance coverage is a vital component of a sportsperson’s life. Often sporting associations and franchises have built-in contractual arrangements that look after individuals in the event of debilitating injuries.

And this brings us to the tragic case of young Barbadian cricketer Shaquana Quintyne, as gifted a female cricketer as any to have ever worn West Indies’ international colours. An exceptional talent at the then Garrison Secondary School, Miss Quintyne was fast-tracked on to the international stage at the age of 15. By the age of 21 her cricketing career was over. The story that has developed since 2017 when she sustained serious damage to her right knee is one to stir emotions from grief to consternation to anger.

At the time of her injury Miss Quintyne was under contract and working for Cricket West Indies (CWI). The board initially assisted the young lady financially with medical attention, inclusive of surgery to the knee that remains a problem until today. But rather than stay the course until the young lady’s life – if not her cricket – was back on track, CWI heartlessly ended her contract. That one act, perhaps more than anything else, spoke volumes of the board’s attitude to its players. There have been previous complaints by retired cricketers of CWI being insensitive and not player-friendly. Miss Quintyne was the first instance in modern times of a young cricketer being faced with a life-altering situation and CWI failed her miserably.

Chief executive officer of CWI Johnny Grave has sought previously to defend his board, stating publicly that Miss Quintyne received monetary assistance following her injury and that the board assisted her with financing for her initial surgery. But Miss Quintyne remains incapacitated to this day. And following the loss of her contract, she was basically abandoned by CWI despite being injured in its employ. It is as though CWI put a cap and a time period on when it believed Miss Quintyne merited its support.

Nor has the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) covered itself in glory with its response to Miss Quintyne’s plight. Granted that the 24-year-old was playing for the West Indies at the time of her injury, one would have thought that the BCA would have taken some interest in the welfare of an individual who was the national cricket captain. It is instructive that three years after Miss Quintyne’s injury, the BCA hierarchy is now talking about getting in contact with her to see what assistance can be rendered. Was the BCA collectively trying to replicate the lost 20 years of Rip Van Winkle? That the BCA has not sought to render assistance to their former cricket captain in a very tangible way provides ample evidence – like that shown by CWI – why some West Indians have little loyalty to regional cricket and when not globe-trotting to accumulate wealth in the proliferation of Twenty20 leagues, they pack their bags and seek to bowl fast for England. Aspiring cricketers will note what has befallen Miss Quintyne and their response to Caribbean cricket will be guided accordingly.

The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) has also been of little help to Miss Quintyne. Indeed, other than offer congratulations for birthdays, commiserations for deaths, and rubber-stamps for what is offered by CWI in negotiations, one would be forgiven for questioning the usefulness and functioning of that organization.

Miss Quintyne’s active cricket career is over but not her life. And whether she remains close to the game in a coaching, mentoring or commentating capacity, the powers-that-be ought to set the right example for those present, past and future exposed to the treatment meted out to the former international. They should see her medical situation through to proper conclusion. It is not too late to remove this blot from regional cricket’s administration.