When the young guns of West Indies Under-19 rejoiced and celebrated their maiden ICC Under-19 World Cup triumph in Dhaka, the mood of the ardent followers of West Indies cricket was elated and they expressed their immense emotions for the Caribbean young men’s brilliant achievement.
Despite limited facilities and off-the-field-chaos, the young guns from the Caribbean overcame all the obstacles to convey a message to the world that, still, there is hope left in West Indies Cricket. A few months later, Carlos Brathwaite took Ben Stokes’ bowling to the cleaners and triggered wild celebrations in Kolkata.
West Indies lifted the ICC World T20 trophy for the second time and left the print, electronic and social media amazed. The modern day fans and critics praised the Caribbean’s effort throughout the tournament and many of them expressed their utmost sympathy towards the team after Darren Sammy’s emotional speech.
Critics are expecting a turnaround of Caribbean cricket after a historic treble of World Cups.The same was expected from them after their T20 triumph in 2012 as well. But sadly, nothing changed. And if we look at their performance in the longer formats, West Indies remained a butt of joke till 2015.
There were victories here and there, but the amount of humiliating defeats were so much that it overshadowed those once-in-a-blue-moon achievements. West Indies cricket’s progression remained stagnant.
How West Indies can take clue from Sri Lanka
When Arjuna Ranatunga lifted the World Cup at Lahore for the first time in 1996, it brought people of the tiny island on one platform and worked as a huge motivating factor. Gradually, Sri Lanka became a force to be reckoned in world cricket, but that ultimate fulfillment did not come until they became a consistent side in Test cricket.
In the late 90s, Sri Lankan batsmen and bowlers started to stamp their authority in Test matches and their improvement as a team became a role model for others. Sri Lanka’s success in one-day cricket inspired them to set high standards in world cricket and above all, it created a legacy to produce quality cricketers whose loyalty towards their national team and the game of cricket is unquestionable.
The Sri Lankan Cricket Board is not run by saint brains, but corruption has earned them a bad name. How much money the current crop of young Sri Lankan players earn remains a moot question. But despite such sensitive issues, the Lankan players give their all for the improvement of the Sri Lankan cricket team.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is a corrupt body as well and their tussle with the senior players has tarnished the image of Caribbean cricket over the years. Petty quarrels, personal gains, big egos, etc. have been the story of West Indies cricket so far and neither the Board nor the players are ready to cut short their ego and take Caribbean cricket forward.
Is blaming the WICB right?
As the whole world is blaming the WICB, very few are questioning the loyalty of their senior players. The WICB have their own mistakes, but can we really tag the senior players as saints? When West Indies needed them, none of them showed up to rescue the image of the country.
While the Caribbean team was getting battered by the Australians Down Under last summer, the so-called senior players were seen busy with the Big Bash League and one of them triggered a mass criticism by attempting to flirt with a female Television host.
They enjoyed, party hard, performed and earned cash without even bothering to realize how pathetic West Indies were punished by Steve Smith’s men.Okay, any cricketer has the freedom to choose whether he wish to play in a Franchise League or the national team, but should a cricketer give club cricket more preference than the country? No harm in playing for a club and earn money, but the prestige of your country matters more than anything.
Would Sachin Tendulkar, Imran Khan, Allan Border or Kumar Sangakkara have done the same thing?
The senior players of the West Indies expressed their interest to represent the country in the 50-over and Test formats. According to them, they have been treated shabbily by the WICB, but have the WICB ever closed the door for them? Were not they allowed to play together two years back? Has Dwayne Bravo forgotten his acts during the India tour in 2014?
How sensible was that? Yes, one might say, they took such stern steps because their patience was tested to the limits, but why can’t we think the same for WICB’s harsh treatment against such senior players?West Indies’ staggering success over the past few months should act as a tonic for the overall development of their cricket. But the development should not be one dimensional. If this success in the World T20 is just a benchmark for the Caribbeans to keep improving their T20 or limited overs squad then West Indies’ future of Test cricket will be in a big threat.
One must keep in mind, how Sri Lank’s success in World T20 2014 inspired them to create history in England the same year. Sri Lanka’s success in T20 didn’t shift their focus on the advancement of just one format only, but it motivated them to do well in all the formats.
Players like Gidron Pope, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Shimron Hetmyer and Shamar Springer are naturally gifted cricketers who can easily fall a victim of this T20 euphoria and choose the path of those senior cricketers whose eyes remained shut during the humiliation of West Indies in Australia.
It’s here, where the WICB should exhibit sense and not stupidity. They need to build this young generation of cricketers into world beaters and make them realize the importance of performing well in all the formats, the value of Test cricket and the pride of representing West Indies who have a glorious cricket history.
Being a fan of West Indies cricket, I have been waiting since 1995 for their turnaround and for which I would like to invest faith in these young cricketers of Under-19. The WICB must utilize the recently earned successes smartly and take notice, the development is overall and not limited to just one format.
It should be their responsibility to notice that neither a Pope or a Joseph chooses the wrong path and fades away.Also, they should not let the talents of Lendl Simmons and Carlos Brathwaite get drained in one format only.
The West Indies have won the small battles. The war is yet to be won.
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