Roadmap for West Indies revival: A tall order but legends huddle for a plan

It was a remarkable coincidence for West Indies cricket in Trinidad on Tuesday, 12 August. Just as the likes of Sir Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Brian Lara were huddled with Cricket West Indies (CWI) bigwigs to find a roadmap for their resurgence, Shai Hope’s team produced a flicker of hope with a crushing 202-run win over Pakistan in a crucial third ODI there to ensure the hosts of a series win against them after 31 years.

‘’We stress on negatives a lot in West Indies,’’ said Hope as they took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. ‘’So many positives to shout about. Great to see the guys pulling off history.’’ A much-needed win after the former superpowers were cast aside 3-0 and 5-0 in Test and T20 series, respectively, by Australia earlier in the summer with the 27 all out setting the alarm bells loud and clear.

  Hope’s frustration was understandable as the declining profile of Caribbean cricket in the new millennium has gradually made the fans lose interest about it. A case in point is while the cricket media has gone gaga over precocious South African talent Dewald Brevis’ 56-ball 125 against Australia in a T20 win, rookie West Indian pacer Jayden Seales’ blistering pace against Pakistan top order for figures of six for 18 the same day has gone somewhat under the radar.   

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The Windies had reached an impressive 294 for six, powered by Hope’s brilliant unbeaten hundred,but  Pakistan’s top order collapsed like a pack of cards against Seales during the chase to be all out for 92. There has been no dearth of such odd sparks from the maroon shirted men over the last 15-20 years, especially in white ball cricket, but some of the legendary names of their cricket were unanimous along with the establishment that they had been fighting a losing battle for far too long.

 Lloyd, Richards, Lara, Desmond Haynes, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and current head coach Daren Sammy, among others, put their heads together to decide on a roadmap of sorts for revival but they were unanimous that CWI have quite a job on their hands.  It’s anybody’s guess that the talent drain in favour of T20 franchise leagues had been their biggest bugbear – the latest example being Nicholas Pooran quitting international cricket at 29 years – but there are other to-do things that needs to be addressed.

Sir Clive Lloyd (from right), Brian Lara and Darren Sammy at the press conference

Sammy, a former allrounder who captained them to two T20 World Cup triumphs in 2012 and 2016, held no promises for a miracle when he said at a joint media conference: ‘’It’s a long road, it’s not going to happen tomorrow.’’ Lloyd, captain of the all conquering men in the 70s and 80s, who had been a part of such initiatives in the past, implored CWI to ask the ICC for a ‘’special dispensation’’ – in other words extra money keeping in mind West Indies’ glorious past.

Lara observed: ‘’It’s been that case for years, where we are not in the same level-playing field as other playing countries. Back in the days when skill was the prominent factor, we excelled, we were the best team in the world. But the game has evolved, and technology and analytics, and we now have to see a new way of finding ourselves back to being very competitive.’’

Brian LaraIt was not about the 27 runs. If it was 57 or 107, will we be feeling any better? I don't think so. It was the fact that we’ve got something to address, and for us to get back on top, or to be a competitive nation in world cricket, we’ve got to address these situations and address them shortly, quickly, and hopefully we can reap the benefits in the years to come

"It was not about the 27 runs. If it was 57 or 107, will we be feeling any better? I don't think so. It was the fact that we’ve got something to address, and for us to get back on top, or to be a competitive nation in world cricket, we’ve got to address these situations and address them shortly, quickly, and hopefully we can reap the benefits in the years to come,’’ said the Prince of Trinidad. Ever since the nightmarish 27 all out which prompted the CWI to announce the meeting, West Indies have played 10 white-ball games, winning two and losing eight.

Chris Dehring, the CWI chief executive, was as candid as he could be. ‘’We have identified a list of about a hundred things that we have to improve, but probably among the top five: facilities at every level for our cricketers; practice pitches across the region; the quality of our domestic tournaments, there’s definitely a skills deficiency at various levels that don't get highlighted till they reach international levels and then you see the glaring deficiencies vis-a-vis our international counterparts, which again is systemic,’’ he said.

 A tall order, but there has to be a start somewhere!