West Indies Cricket History
West Indies Cricket: The West Indians went through a great time, which was one of the brightest times in their Career. This era involved the likes of various world champions like Shannon Gabriel. He is an old-time speedster just like other legends such as Wayne Daniel and Patrick Patterson. They were not too concerned about the ball and what it does to the batsman. He is quick, mean and was banned from the West Indies’ last team for barging on to another batsman in Bangladesh.
In the year 1980, the West Indian Cricket team were the best team in the world, and perhaps one of the most feared side there has ever been. The West Indies were once a dominant team in world cricket, but for a very long time now cricket fans and critiques have been criticizing the state of cricket in the part of the world that they belong to. The legendary personalities like that of Sir Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Malcolm Marshall, Sir Gary Sobers, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, etc. have been a constant source of inspiration for budding cricketers in the past three to four decades. Once a powerhouse in the world of cricket, but alas! The West Indies cricket has been unable to redeem themselves ever since their glory days.
When the West Indies won the T20 cricket world cup in one of the most exciting finals in April 2016, it was a moment that brought everyone so much joy, for every cricket lover including their competitors. Every cricket fan appreciated the Caribbean team’s performance, mainly because not a single soul expected them to win the tournament in style.
Emerging Days
But ever since the T20 triumph, the West Indies have been on a downward trajectory, performing inconsistently and poorly in both the test as well as one-day matches.
The West Indies team was very well known for their defending skills and how well they performed on the field. They were nicknamed the ‘All-Conquering team’ in the 1970s, ’80s and a little bit in the ’90s. The world saw how brilliantly of Clive Lloyd performed, the impeccable skill and talent of Sir Vivian Richards, and of course the well- known all-rounder Sir Gary Sobers along with the contemporary style and grace of Brian Lara emerge. They were the pillar stones of the West Indian Cricket team and played a significant role in their glory days. But unfortunately, in the last 20 years, their authority in cricket had disappeared in the shadows of the T20 cricket and the emergence of other vast talented nations. The West Indies couldn’t come up to the level of the skill that countries like India, Australia, England, and South Africa displayed on the field.
Some cricket pundits and experts feel this condition of the West Indies cricket is a result of money-oriented T20 leagues which has attracted most of the young talents in the region. Youngsters have been drawn away from the Test format as they find the glittering world of T20 cricket more attractive and making money out of it has become their prime target.
West Indies were also once known as the ‘calypso cricketers‘. It was a slightly apt description which showed the fact that while, at their best, they could provide a lot of entertainment, all too often they went home defeated.
Then something miraculous happened. They became a little good, and then very good indeed under the authoritative captaincy of Clive Lloyd, who was an excellent player, this turned the team into a brilliant match-winning machine. They had the game’s most fantastic batsman, Viv Richards, and the greatest fast bowlers in the world.
This absolutely great era of Caribbean cricket, which started with their success in the first ever World Cup of 1975 and later continued into the early in the 1990s, is seen with a greater sense of nostalgia more now than ever before in light of the unfortunate losses that the game has gone through in the Caribbean since then.
Many legendary West Indies players were a part of the Glory Days; they were Michael Holding, a professional pundit now, who is wonderfully eloquent. Andy Roberts, who is his fellow former fast bowler, who was a rock for the team.
Richards compared his bat as his sword and described his early setbacks saying that he used to sit next to the wicket and bawl his eyes out, out of disbelief and said that anybody could play the game of cricket this hard.
Many legendary bowlers such as Richards and Gordon Greenidge in their prime, or the soothing pace of the fast bowlers also contributed to the West Indies high arise.
West Indies Cricket | Their Fall
Since then, their fortunes have unfortunately slipped from their hands, and after getting removed from the top eight teams of the MRF Tyres ICC Team Rankings, they did not make it as a qualifying team for the ICC Champions Trophy, and the team participating at the 2019 Cricket World Cup is also not sure, because the side had played at the famous ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in the month of March.
In the recent years, the West Indies were sadly not able to qualify for the ICC Champions trophy for the first time since its inception year in 1998. This can perhaps be marked as the lowest point in West Indies cricket as they were not amongst the top 8 teams in the world and made way were for once the ‘minnows’ of cricket Bangladesh. For a long time, the star players like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, and Marlon Samuels were out of action due to a dispute with the cricket board over payment issues. This period had West Indies cricket in jeopardy as none of their replacement could fill in their shoes. Over a period of time, many former cricketers who once dominated the world of cricket have raised a question on the way cricket is being run in the country and have been annoyed by the team’s performance from time to time.
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