Dear Editor,
The West Indies cricket team has continued on the path of being consistently inconsistent by losing the recent One-Day International (ODI) series 3-0 to England, a team that is considered ordinary by many pundits.
The capitulation in the final game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados sums up the gloomy state of affairs that has hovered over our cricket for the past two decades. After putting up creditable displays in the first two games of the series, the team meekly surrendered and were walloped by 186 runs, their heaviest defeat to England in 50-over cricket.
Once again, Caribbean cricket fans are left to conduct a post-mortem on what has become the norm. Having been an ardent supporter of West Indies cricket for all my life and having watched the steady and painful decline of the team over the years, it is a no-brainer to diagnose the main reasons for which we have become the whipping boys of international cricket.
There are many problems facing West Indies Cricket, but I will focus on a few of the major ones. Firstly, there is too much politics entrenched in the administration of cricket in the region, which transfers to the selection of the team. This has severely hindered the make-up and quality of the team over the years as there have been several blatant selection errors, where players are included at the expense of others because of the island that they are from.
This is evident in the squad that was selected for the just concluded series. The team was predominantly made up of Bajan players. I do not have an issue with where the players are from, as long as they are selected on merit. Furthermore, Barbados are currently the champions of our Super50 tournament. Yet, there are question marks about the selection of at least two of their players in the current set-up, namely: Carlos Brathwaite and Shai Hope. Since his heroics in the World T20 final in 2016, Brathwaite has failed miserably in almost all tournaments and formats of cricket.
His mediocre returns would have had him struggling to be even selected in training squads for any other major international cricket team. He averages 13.50 with the bat from 23 ODIs and 47.47 with the ball, having been given the title “all-rounder”. In a recent interview, it was reported in the press that Courtney Browne, a member of the West Indies selection panel and Brathwaite’s fellow countryman, came to his defence by arguing that the West Indies should “invest” in the young man.
Interestingly, Windward Islands wicketkeeper batsman Sunil Ambris, who has been a consistent performer over the past two seasons in both the 50-over and four-day formats, was once again overlooked for the recent series against England. I believe Ambris’s aggressive style would have served the team better in the limited-overs format, although Hope also had a descent regional Super50 tournament. After all is said and done, both Braithwaite and Hope failed in the series against England.
Another point worth mentioning is the fact that having gone 0-2 in the series, I thought the selectors would have opted to play the talented and exciting Rovman Powell ahead of Brathwaite. In the just concluded Super50, Powell was the most impressive all-rounder in the tournament, but despite being selected in the squad, he was unable to make the final 11.
Another major issue for the current state of affairs in West Indies Cricket is the backward policy of deeming players ineligible for selection if they do not participate in full in our regional tournaments. This has prevented us from fielding our strongest team, especially in Test and ODIs. It is very difficult to fathom the reasoning behind this policy when the players are plying their trade in higher-quality leagues, while earning more money than we can afford to pay in the Caribbean.
Until we are able to fix this policy, we will remain in the doldrums.
Finally, the quality of the pitches in the Caribbean needs improvement as they do not allow for a balanced game of cricket, which is critical in developing the standard of the game. Curators need to be trained in the art of creating pitches that can provide assistance to both batsmen and bowlers. Presently, the condition of most cricket pitches in the Caribbean are not conducive to allowing players to effectively hone their craft and make a telling impact on the international stage.
I hope that I will see the West Indies back at the pinnacle of world cricket in the future. However, based on all that is happening, this might never come to fruition in my lifetime.
Jerdaine Sterling
jerdaine@hotmail.com