What is wrong with West Indian cricket? Everything it would seem. On and off the field it lurches from one crisis to another. With the players and the Cricket Board at loggerheads it is unlikely that things will improve. Perhaps this is reflected by the on field happenings. The West Indies are No 7 in the ICC Test rankings and No 8 in the ODI rankings. They have just gone down to a rather experimental Pakistan side with the home advantage obviously meaning nothing. Senior players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan have been dropped amidst a lot of acrimony even though the last named figured in the final two games against Pakistan. Gayle and Kieron Pollard two of their best known players are currently playing in the IPL. And their ten-wicket capitulation at the hands of Pakistan in the World Cup quarterfinal is too fresh in memory.
It is always sad to see a great side slip down the ladder and playing standards falling to an abysmal level. Australia has been in a similar position in the 80s and again at the present moment. But their fall has not been as alarming as the West Indian slide. And considering that the West Indies at their peak were ranked as arguably the greatest ever team of all time it makes the genuine cricket follower almost shed tears at their present plight.
Oh yes, what a formidable squad they were not too long ago. They had an array of stroke playing batsmen, a fearsome quartet of pace bowlers, acrobatic fieldsmen and a swagger in their attitude that could intimidate their opponents. For 15 years from 1980 they ran roughshod over every team, winning matches with uncanny ease, finishing them with a day or two to spare, quite often emerging victorious by an innings and plenty. They set all sorts of world records the most notable being eleven successive victories and remaining unbeaten for 27 Tests besides notching up two consecutive 5-0 'blackwashes' of England. Read More