The three generations of West Indian cricket

Let's be honest.

The current West Indian team is probably the poorest West Indian team ever.

What's sad is, it wasn't once upon a time.

In the 70s and 80s, West Indies were a global dominating team, feared to play against by each and every nation.

In the 90s and 2000s, they were fierce competitors that gave every team a run for their money, still producing players who would go on to become legends of the game.

In the current era, they look like leg-less chickens trying to conquer the Everest.

They just aren't good enough.

With most of its players focusing on T20 tournaments and there being constant tiffs between the players and the board, West Indian cricket is in turmoil.

Let us have a look at the West Indian team of the 80s, 90s and 2000s and reminisce the golden days of West Indian cricket, and try to figure out what went wrong in their transition over the years.

#1 West Indies of the 80s

This was certainly the golden era of West Indian cricket. It was the time when they had 4 genuinely quick bowlers, giving nightmares to the batsmen a day before the test match. It was in an era where there were no helmets, that added fuel to the fire created by them.

They had match-winning aggressive batsmen, a strong captain and a world-class all-rounder. It wouldn't be wrong in assuming that the West Indies of the 80's was the best cricketing team ever. Here is the best playing XI of the West Indian team of the 1980s.

1. Gordon Greenidge
2. Desmond Haynes
3. Vivian Richards
4. Clive Lloyd (c)
5. Larry Gomes
6. Gus Logie
7. Andy Roberts
8. Jeff Dujon (wk)
9. Malcom Marshall
10. Michael Holding
11. Joel Garner

#2 West Indies of the 90s

West Indies of the 1990s

The West Indian team of the 90s was a team in transition. It was next to impossible to find replacements for legends that retired in the 80s, yet, West Indies cricket gave birth to amazing characters and greats of the game in the 90s. It was an era where 2 legendary fast bowlers, Ambrose and Walsh continued the tradition and carried the baton handed to them by Holding and Garner.

It was also a time when Brian Lara, arguably the best batsman of the era along with Ponting and Tendulkar, flourished in cricket. Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who could well be termed as the Sangakkara-Jayawardene of West Indian cricket were young and in their prime. The West Indies of the 90's were fiercely competitive and always gave the opposition a run for their money. Here is an example of their playing eleven:-

1. Sherwin Campbell
2. Stuart Williams
3. Brian Lara
4. Carl Hooper
5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul
6. Jimmy Adams
7. Junior Murray (wk)
8. Ian Bishop
9. Keith Atherton
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Courtney Walsh (c)

#3 West Indies of the 2000s

West Indies 2004 champions trophy squad

Just like the West Indies of the 1990s were a shadow lesser better than the West Indies of the 1980's, the same graph fell a little for the West Indies of the 2000s. By no means were they a poor side, but in comparison to the 80s and the 90s, their bowling was slightly weaker. The 2000s gave birth to a generation of West Indian cricketers, cricketers who would go on and become legends of the T20 format.

It was a time when the legends were about to retire, fast bowlers were not as good as their predecessors and the side was performing better in limited overs cricket as compared to test cricket. They were the only West Indian side to win a major global tournament (Champions Trophy 2004) after the 80s.

Here is an example of the playing eleven of that era :

1. Chris Gayle
2. Darren Ganga
3. Ramnaresh Sarwan
4. Brian Lara (c)
5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul
6. Ricardo Powell
7. Ridley Jacobs (wk)
8. Corey Collymore
9. Tino Best
10. Mervyn Dillon
11. Fidel Edwards