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The West Indies cricket team’s rout of England in the first two test matches of the three-test series against England has brought back fond memories of the past. West Indies for the cricket romantic is like Brazil for the football fanatic. The style, panache and passion with which both these teams of the past used to play their respective sports has earned them millions of fans world over. Which is why West Indies cricket’s downfall over the last two decades has been particularly painful.
England started as firm favourites. Before this series started, Geoff Boycott called the West Indies team, “very ordinary, very average cricketers”. The West Indies Cricket chief executive Johnny Grave dubbed this comment “borderline disrespectful” after the Windies went up 1-0. Boycott’s comment brought back memories of the famous “we will make them grovel” quote made by the late Tony Greig before the 1976 series. Well that series ended 3-0 in favour of West Indies with Viv Richards scoring two double hundreds and the Windies fast bowlers blowing away the English batsmen.
Though it is tempting to dream about a turnaround in West Indies’ fortunes and a return to their former glory, this must be tempered with reality. Also comparing this West Indies team with the all-conquering side of the 1970s and 1980s is not only ridiculous but also unfair on the current players. As Reds Perreira, a veteran West Indies commentator, said in a recent article in the Guardian newspaper, the Caribbean is a very different place today than what it was in the 1970s. Today youngsters there have career options in track and field, football and basketball whereas in the 1970s it was only cricket. Besides Perreira says that the great West Indies team of the 1970s and 1980s was a one-off occurrence and there are highs and lows in national teams.
But he still sees hope in this team and with proper nurturing can rise up in the test rankings. Though this statement has no scientific basis, that world cricket needs a strong West Indies is something only die-hard cricket fans of a certain vintage will understand.
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