By Gaurang
April 19 2011

News is trickling in that a large contingent of India’s senior players are likely to miss the upcoming tour of the West Indies with full blessing of the BCCI.  This is a sea change from the past, when a tour to the West Indies was considered one of the toughest assignments and the BCCI would be eager to pick the strongest team possible, to make sure that the Indian team didn’t get thrashed in the West Indies.



 This stunning decline of the West Indies team is one of the saddest things I have seen, even as an outsider and not a home fan.  The reasons for this decline have been debated but even today we are no closer to pinpointing it.

The factors cited include the proximity of the West Indies to the USA, and the influence of professional sports there, especially the NBA.  But the reality is that very few if any West Indians have made it to the NBA or the NFL or the MLB, so this reason must be taken with a grain of salt.  Another reason often mentioned is that the West Indies lack infrastructre.  That is also patently incorrect.  The West Indies hosted the 2007 World Cup, and the ICC with lots of backing from the BCCI built many splendid state of the art stadiums around the West Indies.  Also, though only short-lived Allan Stanford, the disgraced Billionaire, also pumped a lot of money into grounds in the region.  The facilities are currently much better than those during the heyday of Clive Lloyd and his invincibles.  Finally, others have cited the poor administration by the Windies Board as the reason the game is floundering in the Caribbean.  While there may be some truth to this last claim, the Windies Board has plenty of company around the world from similarly inept and incompetent administrators.

So what really is the cause for this decline?  A natural cycle in the talent pool?  Some other factor that has not yet been identified?  Whatever the cause, the decline of a team with such a illustrious and glorious past is not just alarming for the team, but for all of world cricket.  The faster the West Indies Cricket Board and the ICC can address this issue the better off it will be for the world game.

Wither West Indies?

Discussion started by Indian Cricket Fever (IP Logged), 19/04/2011 21:47

Indian Cricket Fever
19/04/2011 21:47

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Birbal
21/04/2011 19:28

I almost think a form of the Indian hota hai, chalta hai attitude has crept into West Indies cricket...

Where has that come from? I don't quite know...but that Pride in performance... and Hunger to Win...has gone...

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Birbal
21/04/2011 19:28

I'd love to see a guy like John Wright... take on the Windies Coaching job...

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sports is fun
21/04/2011 19:48

Quote:

Birbal
I almost think a form of the Indian hota hai, chalta hai attitude has crept into West Indies cricket...
Where has that come from? I don't quite know...but that Pride in performance... and Hunger to Win...has gone...

from indian migrants.

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Birbal
21/04/2011 19:54

Quote:

sports is fun

Quote:

Birbal
I almost think a form of the Indian hota hai, chalta hai attitude has crept into West Indies cricket...
Where has that come from? I don't quite know...but that Pride in performance... and Hunger to Win...has gone...

from indian migrants.

You must be JOKING...if anything the Indian origin players are the ones who show some pride in performance... with an exception or two...

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Birbal
21/04/2011 20:41

Someone named Amir: from CI expressed it well...

Here is what he said:

"I feel so confused now as a WI supporter. I feel like a child in a bitter marriage. Players, coaches, administrators.. bickering and fighting, publicly.. Meanwhile another familiar batting collapse occurs and the poor children (us, fans) remain hopeless and heart-broken.

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ananthd
22/04/2011 00:46

I think it's a matter of culture....

The Caribbean youngster, being quite close the USA, is probably changed in the last 20 years or so with so much more American sport available on TV....

I feel if the West Indies had been in a vastly different time zone than EST, they wouldn't have become so bad so quickly.....

It hasn't helped that for almost 15+ years they've been near doormats....

Things like the IPL will only exacerbate this situation with easy money flowing....

24 needed with a bunny coming in at 11? No problem!

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ananthd
22/04/2011 00:49

Also paradoxically, I think too much cricket without a defined season overall means dispersion of the casual fan, who thinks "ah yet another meaningless match".....

24 needed with a bunny coming in at 11? No problem!

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sports is fun
22/04/2011 20:54

i think the problem is wi cricket board , players dont get paid well. as well as lack of natural talent , former wi greats were all natural freaks and it only lasted well 25-30 years . lack of good coaching at school level? maybe ?

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ananthd
26/04/2011 19:52

I don't buy the lack of natural talent thing.....

The WI were a top team for 50+ years(40-99) with all time greats littered amongst them...

It can't disappear in a decade or two....

I mean a guy like Usain Bolt, could have been a fast bowler(he does say so, if not for sprinting)....

I'm pretty sure, he would have taken a harder look at cricket as a career, had the WI been successful post Richards(son)....

One thing is for sure: other countries such as India & Australia may have better academies to nurture young talent these days and that has played a huge part.....

WICB didn't do themselves any favors by aligning themselves with shady characters such as Allen Stanford....

24 needed with a bunny coming in at 11? No problem!

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Birbal
26/04/2011 23:23

Even the ECB sucked up to Stanford...

Remember the picture of English players' wives/girlfriends sitting on his lap...

The guy was PURE SLEEZE...and supposedly even U.S. Diplomats avoided him like the plauge...but ECB babus...snubbed by BCCI...made a bee line to his door...

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Birbal
26/04/2011 23:26

Here it is in case anyone doesn't remember...






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:04:26:23:27:07 by Birbal.

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Spirit of Cricket
27/04/2011 23:11

Standford got beaten up in jail by fellow convicts - so much so that he got brain injury.

Congrats England and Windies, for sucking up to this criminal.

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Birbal
28/04/2011 19:27

OUCH!... where did you hear/read that?

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Birbal
28/04/2011 19:27

Anyway, now the "New Look" Windies team is getting their butts kicked by Pakistan in the ODIs...

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Spirit of Cricket
28/04/2011 23:15

Here's the article - what a fall for this guy - I wonder if ECB and WICB are weeping over his fate

Bloodied and shackled: Controversial cricket tycoon Allen Stanford beaten up by jail inmates as he awaits trial

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Birbal
28/04/2011 23:21

Anil this is shocking... no surprise it happened in TEXAS...

ECB and WICB...probably don't even want to acknowledge they were once in bed with the guy...

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Birbal
10/06/2011 15:19

The WICB continues to fiddle while it's team burns...

No Gayle or Taylor or Chanderpaul... in the squad yet...even after losing quite meekly 0-2 in the current ODI series...

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