West Indies Cricket

The prospects for the West Indies at the 2015 Cricket World Cup don't look great. Led by a rookie captain, with an attack that's just given up the fastest century in one-day international history, Caribbean cricket fans won't exactly be brimming with confidence ahead of the tournament.

Throw in a simmering feud between the board and players, and a superstar opener who can't buy a run and the nightmare scenario of Kenya 1996 could be repeated.

Perhaps the biggest headache facing captain Jason Holder is the state of his spluttering top-order. The West Indies have won just one of their past seven ODIs. In those games, the opening partnership has failed to pass five on four occasions. Not exactly a great platform to build a big score.

And that doesn't include Monday's wretched effort in the unofficial warm-up against England. In testing, but by no means impossible, conditions they were skittled for just 122 in under 23 overs.

The chief cause for concern among the top-order is the form of Chris Gayle. The big-hitting opener has passed 50 just twice in his past 32 ODI innings dating back to July 2012. In that period he averages just 17.28.

Despite his recent poor trot, Gayle seems a shoo-in for the West Indies' opener against Ireland. The identity of his opening partner is less clear cut.

Dwayne Smith opened in the recent warm-up against England but his recent form doesn't inspire much confidence either. The Barbadian has passed 50 just once in his nine most recent innings.

Darren Bravo is another potential opening candidate but he too has struggled for runs in his recent outings in the Caribbean domestic one-day competition.

Which leaves Lendl Simmons. The 30-year-old has a decent record opening up, averaging 32.83 but after top-scoring in Sydney on Monday batting at No. 6, the middle-order looks his likeliest home.

As it is, only Marlon Samuels has reached three figures in the past six outings.

However they manage it, the West Indies need to find some runs at the top of the order as there are some talented strikers lower down.

If given a decent platform, the likes of Darren Sammy and Andre Russell are capable of producing fireworks at the death.

A bowling attack that features Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach and the aforementioned Russell should keep them competitive—if they have something to bowl at.

And that's the big if. Talented the West Indians may be, but they're also unreliable. It's a description that could have been levelled at them at any time during the past 10 years.

Speaking in a press conference (via the New Zealand Herald) after the West Indies were dismantled by England, coach Richie Richardson said his side “Don't want to peak too early.” They certainly don't look in any danger of doing that.

The decision to leave the experienced Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard out may yet come to haunt the selectors if things do go wrong. If they can somehow conjure some runs at the top of the order they have a puncher's chance.

Stats courtesy of ESPN Cricinfo and Howstat.

Dwayne Bravo has retired from Test cricket at the tender age of 31 years. In a statement, he spoke of the “difficult time” cricket in the Caribbean is currently experiencing and reiterated his desire to represent the West Indies in the limited overs format.

As per ESPNCricinfo he said:

Today I am announcing my retirement from Test cricket. I have already informed the [West Indies Cricket Board] of this decision and also indicated my desire to continue to represent the West Indies in the shorter formats of the game.

Over the years, with the greatest enthusiasm, I have done my best with the deep awareness that I am ultimately representing the people of the game.

I recognise that this is a difficult time for all of us. Our people of the region have seen and enjoyed great cricketing days but we will not return to glory until we agree to go forward with our love for the game and the respect of the administrators, players and the public.

I have experienced the exhilarating joy of victory and the devastating pain of defeat. The joyous memories will remind me of what we are capable of achieving. I want to be part of that mission.

I thank the cricketing fraternity for their support and look forward to serving you with determination and the pride of being a West Indian.

Although Bravo has not played Test cricket since 2010, his retirement is significant and is yet another reminder about the current state of cricket in the West Indies. As an all-rounder, Bravo could have played a far more significant role in the Test team, if only the West Indies brain trust were more amenable.

Bravo's Test career was never remarkable. In 40 matches, he averaged 31.42 with the bat, scoring three hundreds and 13 fifties. His bowling was never really threatening, but he has showed enough promise in limited overs to make one wonder what could have been.  But the problem should not be laid squarely at the feet of the WICB.

In 2010, the year when he last played Test cricket, he averaged just 23.87, but managed two fifties in eight innings. He was just 26 at the time, the perfect age to shape a crickter's future. He was dropped after West Indies toured Sri Lanka in December that year and was never picked again. More tellingly, though, Bravo never did anything to encourage selectors to thinking differently, either.

Since being dropped from the Test squad almost five years ago, he has played just two first-class games. He has reiterated his desire to return to the Test squad on a number of occasions, most recently in April 2014. He was quoted by ThatsCricket.com as saying:

I must stress my disappointment of not playing Test cricket for the last four years. They got it wrong but there is nothing I can do about it. I just have to continue to play my game and show my hunger and desire to play Test cricket, and hopefully I will get the opportunity again.

Talk is cheap, though, and the simple fact is that rarely are players so talented that they get selected on limited overs form alone. Sure, Bravo is talented, and he can be a match winner, but he is not a prodigy, his international stats show that much. That is why it’s important to consider both sides of the coin.

But the question has to be asked: Why can Bravo not be bothered with doing the hard work in first-class cricket in order to get back into the Test side?

Money plays a big role, but so does the way the administrations handles its players. Before the Indian Premier League gets all the blame, let’s think about things a bit more carefully.

There are many great Test players who play in the IPL. South Africa’s Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis are just three examples. Australia’s David Warner and New Zealand’s Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum are other examples. It is possible for the IPL and the importance of Test cricket to both appeal to players. It is, however, up to the country’s administration to ensure that players know that they are valued if they play Tests.

Of course, WI cannot afford to pay their players the same salary that South Africa and Australia pay theirs, but New Zealand Cricket isn’t exactly swimming in money either.

It’s a case of bad management, and losing Bravo, a talented player, from the ultimate format of the game, especially at a time when West Indies cricket is degenerating into a shambles, is a great shame for the game as a whole.

He is an exciting and flamboyant player, an aggressive type of batsman shaped by the Twenty20 era, and he is exactly what they need. 

During summertime in Cape Town, a gale force wind regularly rips through the suburbs and the city centre. The South Easter, as it is known, has sometimes blown satellite dishes off walls and is colloquially referred to as the “Cape Doctor”. By Friday afternoon, it was just starting to gain some traction and by the time the West Indies stepped out to bat against South Africa, it was in full force.

But that was not the only gale force in action. In the middle of Newlands, Christopher Henry Gayle was playing the kind of innings that has earned him the reputation of being one of the best Twenty20 players in the world. In the most brutal fashion, Gayle hammered 77 off just 31 balls, and no bowler was spared.

His strike rate was not below 175.00 for any bowler he faced. Wayne Parnell copped the worst of the lot, with Gayle hitting 20 runs off the six deliveries form the left armer.

Remarkably, he managed just one run from his first six deliveries. Kyle Abbott made a steady start and South Africa's young speedster Kagiso Rabada, too, kept a lid on the big man, for a while. For just a few minutes, Gayle looked like he might actually respect the rookie.

Then Rabada bowled a bouncer which went for four byes and, just like that, Gayle tasted blood and the flood gates opened. He welcomed Rabada to his first ever T20 international on home soil with consecutive sixes.

The two know each other well—they played together in South Africa’s domestic T20 competition before. When Gayle was asked why he picked on the youngster his reply was simple: He picked on me first.

The chaos continued, with Gayle smacking eight sixes and five fours. In cricket, the saying “you miss, I hit” is often  used. For Gayle, the phrase should be: you bowl, I hit. Because no matter where anyone bowls to him, he will find a way to punish bowlers.

Aside from his brute force, Gayle’s ability to keep his head dead still is part of what makes him so dangerous. His complete lack of desire to run between the wickets is extraordinary. Just nine of his runs came from pottering between the wickets. Why run when you can smack it?  

At the post-match press conference, Gayle even admitted that he was not one hundred percent fit.

“My back was a bit stiff when I woke up this morning and I was a bit nervous going out there. But it held up well and I’ll see how I feel before the next match,” Gayle said.

If part of T20’s purpose is to entertain, then there is no better player to have out in the middle than Gayle. Even the home crowd couldn’t help but be blown away. Every big hit was greeted with an “ooh” from the bewitched crowd.

When Gayle was eventually dismissed, caught behind after an attempted reverse sweep, the celebrations from the watchers was almost subdued. He might not be batting for them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy watching him bat.

West Indies needed just 51 off 54 with eight wickets still in hand. The result was only going to go one way and those who felt they had gotten their money’s worth after watching Gayle, got up from their seats and decided to leave early in an attempt to avoid the gridlocked traffic.

Those who stayed watched on as Marlon Samuels continued to build from the platform set by his colleague. But the Newlands mood was significantly dimmed. Their team was losing and the superstar had exited stage left.

It just proved once again that no matter where in the world he is batting and no matter who is playing for, when it’s the Chris Gayle Show, everyone sits up and takes notice.

All quotes and information obtained first hand.

Every so often, Shivnarine Chanderpaul is accused of being a selfish player. Not so much because he bats so slowly, but often because he does not like to hog the strike when the team is in trouble.

Sometimes, instead of guarding tailenders from the barrage of aggressive bowling, Chanderpaul would trust them to hold their own and look on watchfully from the other end.

It is, however, hard to blame Chanderpaul for perhaps thinking of only himself once in a while. For the last five years, he has been one of the West Indies’ most consistent players.

Since the start of 2009, not once has he gone three consecutive Tests without scoring 35 in at least one innings. He's averaged 59.53 in the same time period and has scored 10 hundreds and 16 half-centuries. It is therefore understandable that, sometimes, Chanderpaul just wants to catch a break.

On the current tour of South Africa, that has not been an option for him. While he struggled in the first and second Test, he dug in for a half century in the second innings in Cape Town. After most of day four was lost due to rain, Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels eventually got together for an 87-run stand. For a short period of time, the West Indies looked as though they might just challenge South Africa and push them out of their comfort zone.

Then it happened. The inevitable collapse which has been the hallmark of this tour for the visitors. Samuels threw his wicket away, frustrated at scoring just four runs off 28 balls—he holed off Simon Harmer and Dean Elgar took a good catch running in from mid-on. And, just like that, it all came crashing down.

The tourists lost seven wickets for just 33 runs. It echoed both of the previous Tests. In Centurion, they lost six wickets for just 39 runs. In Port Elizabeth, five wickets fell for 15 runs. In the first innings at Cape Town, four wickets were plucked out for 30 runs.  

In all those instances, the wickets mostly fell to wastefulness. In all of those instances, Chanderpaul, West Indies' loyal servant, must have been watching on in sheer frustration. The lack of responsibility from senior players, such as Samuels, is an insult to players like Chanderpaul, who has spent so many years trying to raise West Indies cricket out of the doldrums.

On this tour, the West Indies have shown glimpses of promise. There were two centurions in the rained-out Test in PE, and in Cape Town, three players managed to score 50 in the first innings. That nobody managed to go on and get a big score is shameful, silly and insulting to a player like Chanderpaul who has done so much for the game in the Caribbean.

The saying goes that world cricket is better when the Windies are competitive. It has become quite clear on this tour that, while the current squad has something about them, they remain immature.

If a player of Chanderpaul’s stature cannot inspire at least an inkling of logic to their approach, then perhaps nothing ever will.

All quotes and information obtained firsthand.

South Africa took a stranglehold of the first Test against the West Indies after making the tourists follow-on at Centurion.

Replying to the Proteas’ 552-5 declared, the men from the Caribbean were skittled out for just 201 on day three.

After first innings double centurion Hashim Amla enforced the follow-on in his first home Test as captain, WI reached 76-2 in their second innings, still 275 runs behind.

Vernon Philander was the chief tormenter as he picked up 4-29 with Morne Morkel claiming 3-55.

20.9 - @OfficialCSA's @VDP_24's current Test bowling average of 20.9 is the best by any bowler to play since 1970 (100+ wkts). Tidy.

— OptaJim (@OptaJim) December 19, 2014

Seamer Philander broke a 72-run opening partnership between Devon Smith (35) and Kraigg Brathwaite (34), removing the openers in consecutive overs.

He then picked up the key wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul (21) before Jermaine Blackwood (12) departed, both edging full deliveries to Alviro Petersen at second slip.

Oldest West Indies Test player: GHeadley 44y 230d, NBetancourt 42y 242d, LGibbs 41y 124d, AWiles 40y 345d, Shiv Chanderpaul 40y 125d. #SAvWI

— Cricket Record (@cricinfo_record) December 19, 2014

The tail failed to waggle with the last six wickets falling for just 39 runs and Kemar Roach unable to bat after picking up an ankle injury.

It took just four overs of West Indies’ second innings before Philander struck again, removing Smith (5), caught at point, for the second time in a day.

Devon Smith waited three-and-a-half years for a Test comeback. Dismissed twice in a day on his return http://t.co/COHndRSfSL #SAvWI

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 19, 2014

Brathwaite then again failed to convert a start when Petersen snared a third catch at second slip, off Morkel's bowling, after pushing hard at a full length delivery having made 20.

The match is the first in a three-Test series with encounters in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town to follow.

As far as the very future of West Indies cricket is concerned right now, the show simply must go on come what may, as otherwise the immediate consequences are just not worth thinking about for the game in the region.

And that is because this current crisis, resulting from the team’s decision Friday to bring about a premature end to its tour of India following a pay dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board, could not have come at a worse time.

With crowds in the Caribbean already at an all-time low and the financially stricken WICB reportedly in debt to the tune of some $5.6 million, the last thing that those running the game there needed right now was to be hit with a compensation bill of $60 million from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

But that is actually a possibility after Tuesday’s announcement of BCCI's plans to sue their rival board to reclaim loss of income from sponsorship and TV deals as a direct result of West Indies’ decision to abruptly halt their tour of the subcontinent.

Not only that, though, but perhaps of more long-term significance to the WICB was the revelation the BCCI has also opted to suspend all future bilateral series to the Caribbean, especially given their last tour to the region yielded $22.3 million in revenue for the hosts.

I say more significant because the threat to sue the WICB is just that, a threat, with there being no real hope of the BCCI ever being able to successfully recoup any compensation from those who run the game in the region due to the dire financial straits they currently find themselves in.

In fact, those strong words coming out of India were more to simply let the WICB specifically, and the watching world in general, know exactly what the BCCI thought about this whole issue, while at the same time trying to also placate some of their more irate key stakeholders back home.

All of which makes WICB president Dave Cameron’s decision not to intervene quicker in the pay dispute between the players and the West Indies Players’ Association, which is at the heart of this whole ugly spat, so perplexing given the "serious implications" now facing him and his board.

Under no circumstances whatsoever should Cameron have allowed one-day captain Dwayne Bravo and his teammates to have returned home early from India last week, even if that meant him having to bite the bullet and temporarily suspend the much-discussed agreement signed with the WIPA president and chief executive Wavell Hinds back in September.

That way, the tour could have continued with an uneasy truce in place, and then the three warring parties could all have sat down to thrash out new and mutually acceptable terms before the players set off to South Africa next month.

Instead, however, egos have gotten in the way of some much-needed common sense and now the WICB face a bleak future and the very real threat of bankruptcy unless they can quickly come to a compromise with their irate employees.

And speed most definitely is of the essence if that doomsday scenario is indeed to be avoided, especially given the first Test with South Africa is due to start at Centurion on December 17. The very last thing the WICB can afford right now is to have to cancel another tour.

Meanwhile, sending a second-string squad to take on the Proteas this winter is not a viable option either, as the WICB recently found out when India immediately rebuffed that unappealing proposal as they tried in vain to salvage the tour last weekend.

Looking further ahead at the calendar, both the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this February and March, followed by England’s visit to the Caribbean the month after, are also now under threat unless a new deal can be struck.

And were the England and Wales Cricket Board not to fulfil their two-month tour of the West Indies next year, then that could prove to be the final nail in their coffin given just how lucrative those trips to the region have proved to be to the WICB down the years.

So it is absolutely vital then that the key figures in this spat now stop all the counter-productive posturing and instead get around a table ASAP for face-to-face negotiations in order to find a solution to their financial differences.

Otherwise this once-great cricketing superpower will soon be a thing of the past…

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The messy scenes on Friday that ended with the cancellation of the West Indies’ tour of India were just a further sad indictment of the current state of the game in the Caribbean, which has been in decline now for the past 20 years.

However, unless the administrators and players can fix these off-field issues, and quickly, then the once-dominant Calypso Kings will never again return to their position as the No.1 team in the world which they held from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s.

And while there are now a series of very public finger-pointing exercises taking place between all three parties involved in this ugly pay dispute—the West Indies Cricket Board, the West Indies Players' Association and the players themselves—blame can be apportioned equally.

In fact, none of the trio in question comes out of this spat particularly smelling of roses, with the players—despite ODI captain Dwayne Bravo speaking of a “grave injustice,” per ESPN.co.uk— still, for some unknown reason, waiting until the tour got underway at the beginning of this month before raising their concerns about the new pay structure that was agreed in September.

Meanwhile, the WIPA has been accused by some—including former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding in an interview with Sky Sports­—of not doing its job properly in representing the players during their negotiations with the WICB.

But perhaps most culpable of all in this whole fiasco is the WICB and its president Whycliffe "Dave" Cameron, who fatally prevaricated when it seemed fairly clear to all just how serious the tete-a-tete was between Bravo and WIPA president and chief executive Wavell Hinds in the early stages of the tour.

And when Cameron and Co. finally decided to act, “instead of trying to sort the problem out they have just decided they will take the stumps, their bat and ball and go home,” said Holding, giving “little thought to the future of the game, the players and the long standing relations between the BCCI and the WICB,” according to BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel.

This is not the first time, though, that the West Indies players have gone on strike following a dispute with the WICB over pay, with ex-skipper Chris Gayle and 12 of his team-mates missing Bangladesh’s victorious Test tour of the Caribbean in the summer of 2009 for similar reasons.

Consequently, there is a real worry about what the long-term ramifications of this whole situation may be back home in the West Indies, as with cricket crowds already at an all-time low, the last thing that the sport needed right now was another reason for fans to stop following their national team.

But that is exactly what is likely to happen if, as seems possible, a solution to the current impasse over the signing of the players’ new agreement regarding pay and conditions cannot be reached soon.

While the WICB may have scheduled an emergency board meeting for October 21 in Barbados in order to determine what the "ramifications" will be of the players’ decision to return home early from India, the team were due to fly to South Africa immediately after the end of the third Test in Ahmedabad next month.

And now there is even talk that not only will the West Indies fail to send a side to take on the Proteas in three Test matches, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game this winter, but they could also pull out of next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, according to Tony Cozier in an interview with ESPNcricinfo.

However, that is the very last thing the team who won the first two World Cups, as well as going unbeaten in a Test series between 1980 and 1995, needs at a time when they are languishing down in eighth place in the world in both the International Cricket Council’s Test and ODI rankings.

So the message to all involved is simple: Unless you get your house in order now and sort out your off-the-pitch problems, then the game that used to proudly be both the soul and heartbeat of the Caribbean will wither and die.

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The West Indies will start their five-match ODI series against India on Wednesday, but without the services of stars Sunil Narine and Chris Gayle, the Windies' chances of winning the series appear doomed from the start.

Preparations for the 2015 Cricket World Cup are in full swing, and with the start of that tournament just five months removed, both teams will be looking to make a statement.

For the Windies, that won't be easily done. India are ranked first in the ICC ODI Championship for a reason, via ESPN Cricinfo. The loss of Gayle will hurt, and the star batsman took to Twitter to express his frustration with not being healthy enough to make the team:

With the likes of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo and Dwayne Smith, the West Indies have enough explosive batsmen to make up for the loss of the 35-year-old. But consistency remains an issue, and against India's plethora of strong spinners, every single helping hand will be needed.

Speaking of spinners: Narine's absence is the one that will really hurt.

Team manager Richie Richardson believes his squad will adapt and that they have a good chance of beating India, as he told ESPN Cricinfo's Sidharth Monga: "We were positive even without him that we can play well against India and beat India. That's the attitude we have got to adapt."

As reported by the Press Trust of India (for NDTV Sports), the decision to withdraw Narine was made by the West Indies Cricket Board in an attempt to work on his bowling action in preparation of the 2015 World Cup.

Narine was in sensational form during the Twenty20 Champions League, building on his spectacular Indian Premier League campaign for Kolkata Knight Riders. It wasn't a huge surprise when Bleacher Report's Tim Collins named him his bowler of the month for September.

He's not just the Windies' best spinner—he's the best spin bowler in the world. He knows the Indian pitches well from playing in the IPL, and with Indian pitches being notoriously kind to spinners, his presence was a major asset for the team.

Sulieman Benn will be his replacement, but the 33-year-old giant hasn't played limited-overs cricket for West Indies in years. With the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar lining up for India, it'll be a tall task for Benn to contain such a fierce group of batsmen.

Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, Jadeja and Amit Mishra give the hosts a tremendous advantage when it comes to bowling, making West Indies' challenge of beating the top nation in the ODI format that much harder.

Bleacher Report's Antoinette Muller doesn't like the Windies' chances: "On paper, India are very much the stronger team. The West Indies have been lackluster over the last few months, and while they do have some talented players they have not always performed to their full potential."

West Indies and India will take to the pitch in Kochi on Wednesday, and fans will immediately find out how this lineup holds up without Gayle and Narine against the favoured hosts.

Don't expect the result to be much different from the three-match series the two teams played in November 2013, however, with India once again emerging as the clear winners.

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