The state West Indies cricket is in at the moment is, to say the least, an unsettled one. Test cricket seems to be insignificant to most of the side’s best players, bar the ever-present Shivnarine Chanderpaul; the players and the WICB are at war; the only time the players can gather together to show their true potential seems to be in the Twenty20 format.
Certainly, test cricket seems to be coming to an end in the isles where not long ago some of the greatest sides in the history of the sport were tearing all in their path asunder. Dwayne Bravo hasn’t played a test since 2010, and Chris Gayle only turns up in the test arena when he’s being paid what he wants, and his back problems mean that he may stop playing test cricket altogether; talents such as Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell will never be able to prove themselves on what is meant to be cricket’s greatest platform. Twenty20 seems to be the future of West Indian cricket, much to the anguish of former West Indian greats like Clive Lloyd.
In October, the events which occurred in India were nothing short of embarrassing for West Indian cricket. The players withdrew from the series due to a dispute over pay and other conditions with the West Indies Cricket Board. The series had to be cancelled, and India’s own board suspended future series with the West Indies for now.
The Cricket World Cup will come as a welcome distraction, provided the team perform well, but things do not look promising, as many of the players are unable to imitate 20-over success over fifty overs. Though South Africa were beaten pretty comfortably in the T20 series, where the WIndies recorded a record run chase in the second match, South Africa beat the boys in maroon pretty comfortably in the first One Day International. Four matches remain, but it seems likely that South Africa will win the series.
However, things can still improve. Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, both dropped for the tour of South Africa during the India scandal, have, thankfully, been included in the West Indies provisional squad for the World Cup in a few months’ time, and the other big names like Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels and Sunil Narine are all present as well. However, pace bowler Ravi Rampaul has failed to make the cut, and six uncapped players have been included in the squad: seamer Kenroy Peters, legspinner Imran Khan (no, not the Imran Khan of years gone by), offspinner Ashley Nurse, 19-year-old fast bowler Marquino Mindley, left-hand opener Evin Lewis and all-rounder Jonathan Carter.
Thanks to the players they have at their disposal, the West Indies are a terrifying force in Twenty20 cricket. They have Chris Gayle, the game’s most deadly batsman, and other strong sloggers like Dwayne Smith. Perhaps the team’s biggest strength is the number of versatile players they have: Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Darren Sammy can all be classed as all-rounders; Marlon Samuels, when not in trouble for his action, is a useful spinner; and every West Indian player is strong and energetic in the field. However, there are three main problems, namely patience, depth and consistency.
For all their great batting performances in the shortest form of the game, the team are not able to sustain these efforts for longer periods of time when more overs are added on. Perhaps the statistic which sums up West Indies cricket currently is this from Freddie Wilde:
@fwildecricket: “West Indies in second T20i vs South Africa: 236-6 (19.2); West Indies in first ODI vs South Africa: 164-10 (28.2) #SAvWI.”
The batsmen don’t seem to have the patience to build innings in other forms of the game, particularly when proceedings aren’t flowing naturally for them. Even in their strongest format, performances can be varied, and whether this crop of players can string together the number of strong displays needed to go far in a tournament like the World Cup remains to be seen.
The fact that six uncapped players have made it into the squad shows the lack of depth in this West Indies side. Without Gayle, the batting leaves much to be desired. Though there are plenty of strong hitters capable of producing spectacular scores and entertainment, the ability to build an innings and to do so often is not there.
As touched upon previously, the team simply aren’t consistent enough. Even the strong bowling attack can fall to pieces once wickets are hard to come by, and the problems of impatience and inconsistency are combining all too often with devastating consequences. In the batting lineup, Chris Gayle is the closest they have to a rock of stability—their Chanderpaul of limited overs cricket, if you will—but the loose cannon is not really the man to be looking to to be the voice of calm and reason for a team.
The fact that the team have these problems in One Day cricket does not bode well for five day cricket, and it seems that a lot needs to be done to stop test cricket in the West Indies dying out altogether. However, that is not the short term issue—the team need to perform at their best for the next few months in One Day cricket and do themselves justice in the World Cup. One thing’s for sure: matters will not be tranquil for this side throughout the tournament.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter @HugoNotLloris. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Are you interested in writing about Cricket? LWOS is looking for passionate Cricket fans to get their views heard by thousands. Have a look at our WriteForUs page for more information.
