Vivian Richards smashes the ball to the boundary! Another impressive win to add to the belt of the West Indies team. With players such as Clive Lloyd, Michael Holding, Gordon Greenidge, Deryck Murray, and Rohan Kanhai to name a few, many have been pondering what has happened to that beloved “golden era”.
I think that the 1970s and the 1980s were and in fact a different time period. It is difficult to compare 2 time periods, present day and the ‘70s and ‘80s. However, it is easy to showcase the decline of West Indies Cricket from then to present day.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is responsible for the development of the game in the Caribbean. The WICB has not done enough in this regard. Each member state of the West Indies are supposed to contribute a sum of money to the Board each year and the Board thus repatriates the monies accordingly, whether it is for development of the game or otherwise; whether this has been done cricket pundits of the West Indies do not even have a clue.
Other sports such as football and basketball have been competing with cricket in the territories. In the 1970s, cricket was “king”, no-one knew about football! Everyone knew about bat and ball. However, the blame for the decline in cricket has been the failure of the WICB to effectively manage and promote the sport. It is part of their portfolio to develop the game.
On the other hand it would be unfair to solely cast the blame on the WICB – afterall over the past few years the game has evolved, being more scientific. In the England team for example, there are more Doctors than there are players. The West Indies team has remained more archaic in their approach. However, the island territories are supposed to supply the WICB with the appropriate funds to develop the game and this has not been done. Thus West Indies languish around the 7th position in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test Rankings and 8th position in the ICC’s One Day International (ODI) Rankings. This does not mean that West Indies are not good, everyone knows that on their day West Indies are a force to be reckoned with. However, we are not a force to be reckoned with consistently. Our performances are sporadic and this is just not good enough at the international level.
The Essay on Roy Game Day Fate
I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act G. K. Chesterton, General Speaking Some people think that fate is something you are born with, something that follows you around for the rest of your life until the day you die. I think that fate is something that exists in your sub-conscience, therefore making it nothing ...
Also the state of mind of the players after a period losing so many games affects performance. It is difficult for players to have the right attitude towards the game and it reflects on the field time and time again. We have also seen poor decisions and poor shots by top West Indian players. The players do not have a winning attitude and it shows throughout.
The final nail in the coffin could be the recent WICB/WIPA impasse about contractual obligations. After an embarrassing 95 run loss to Bangladesh in the 1st Test at Arnos Vale in St. Vincent. Although it was a 3rd string West Indies side the ICC has now been given more impetus to relegate the regional side to second tier test cricket. If something is not done soon West Indies Cricket would be sent to the gallows for a long time to come.
