The stage is set for the start of the ICC Champions Trophy in England. Some top cricket nations will vie for glory in this glamorous event, but one nation will be conspicuous in its absence.
Missing from the tournament will be the once mighty West Indies, who during their heyday in the late 1970s and the early ’80s, not only dominated the limited over game, but defined it.
However, constant decline over the last two decades has seen the West Indies become only a minor force in both Test and ODI cricket. A Test ranking of eighth and ODI ranking of ninth provide proof of this sad decline.
Qualification for the 2017 Champions trophy first came in to limelight in the middle of 2015. With the top six more or less decided, it was between Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies to grab the two remaining places.
Bangladesh built on their impressive World Cup by beating Pakistan and India at home, results which virtually guaranteed their entry to the Champions Trophy. The pressure then fell to Pakistan, but they played it safe and denied an invitation to participate in a three-nation event, leaving no chance for the West Indies to qualify.
In fact, after the World Cup in 2015, the West Indies didn’t play a single ODI before September 30, the day the Champions Trophy places were decided. It seems harsh and unfortunate, but then when they did eventually toured Sri Lanka they were humiliated. And their current ODI ranking suggests they would not be competitive anyway.
The West Indies played their first official Test match in 1928, but in the eyes of many observers the history of West Indian cricket really began with the famous victory at Lord’s in 1950.
For many West Indians at the time, this was more than just a cricketing success. Though it should be remembered that the England team at the time was still in a rebuilding process.
That the West Indies won the series 3-1, wasn’t a surprise to anyone. The real significance was that for four consecutive decades the West Indies built on that success.
Yes, there were periodic setbacks, but they always showed the courage and the ability to bounce back. The England tour of 1957 was a disaster, but with Garfield Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Wes Hall in their ranks, they soon bounced back under Frank Worrell.
When Sobers and Kanhai retired in the early ’70s, Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Alvin Kallicharan were ready to take over. The arrival of the pace quartet meant that the absence of Lance Gibbs virtually went unnoticed. When Michael Holding and Joel Garner retired in 1987, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose stepped in.
So when the West Indies lost the 1995 series against Australia, thus ending their long unbeaten run, many of us expected it to be a temporary setback. If anything, we expected them to return even stronger than before.
We were wrong.
Pakistan whitewashed them 3-0 in 1997-98, South Africa thrashed them 5-0 a year later. A fighting 2-2 draw against the mighty Australians in early 1999, thanks mainly to the brilliance of Brian Lara, briefly revived the hopes, only to see them disappear in 2000 following disastrous tours in England and Australia.
By this time, we had accepted the fact that the damage in West Indian cricket had become permanent.
This article is not meant to delve into the reasons for the West Indies’ decline, but rather to touch on one point. I recently visited a West Indian fan site, and I noticed fans frequently blame the board for the team’s situation.
The fans certainly have reasons for their grudges, yet it is important to note that cricket in the Windies was never fully professionally organised. Prior to the 1960s, there was an unwritten rule that the West Indies captain must have had a European connection.
The Tony Greig incident in the 1970s wasn’t handled properly, then in 1992, the Barbados crowd boycotted the historical Test against South Africa, protesting the exclusion of the local boy Miguel Cummins from the Test team.
There have been other incidents, while pay or contractual problems have always remained in the horizon. Yet these problems didn’t stop them becoming the invincible team in the 1980s. Two Ps have been the main pillars of success over the years – pride and passion. For some reason or other, there has been little evidence of either among the current West Indies stars.
Two things are often said about West Indies cricket in recent years. Firstly, that they play exciting, entertaining cricket. However, they have always played this brand of cricket, the only difference is that they used to turn those performances into results.
Secondly, that West Indies cricketers are ideally suited for T20 cricket. The fact that they have won two T20 World Cups supports this thought, while Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine have become household names in the short-form arena.
But it is worth remembering that the great West Indies players of the past were experts in every form of the game, not just in one. Sobers never had the chance to play T20 cricket, but if he had he would have proved himself to be a champion in it as well.
As things stand now, one can mimic a famous quote from the movie Cleopatra – “West Indies cricket is dead, West Indies cricket is alive”.
There is no realistic chance that West Indies cricket will ever come remotely close to repeating past glories. Perhaps there will be odd successes, mostly in the T20 format.
Darren Bravo will play the odd glorious cover drive, forcing the old timers to shake their heads and talk about Lara and Kallicharan. Pollard will loft the ball over mid-on just like Viv, matching him at least in power, if not in elegance.
And Jason Holder’s towering body frame would remind us of Garner and Ambrose, although the analogy should start and stop there.
They will continue to play cricket in those beautiful islands of the Caribbean for years to come, but it just won’t ever be as lovely as it used to be.
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