A win, not a victory

YES! The West Indies have earned a place in the ICC World Cup, set for England and Wales, May 30 to July 15, 2019.

But anyone who watched the regional team’s progress (used here guardedly), during the qualifying stage would not have been impressed with what unfolded.

At no point in the qualifiers could one have said that the West Indies, with all its rich history, its test status and the like, looked convincing.

A loss to Afghanistan, in a warm-up match, set the tone of what was to come.

The West Indies, though, posted 357 in their first outing of the qualifiers versus the United Arab Emirates (UAE), only to see their opponents reach 297.

Facing Papua New Guinea, which has little cricketing pedigree, the West Indies chasing 201, were at one point 58 for 4, before getting to the target, successfully.

In their meeting with the Netherlands, the West Indies were at one point 83 for 5, but rallied to 257.

A win by the Duckworth/Lewis method versus the Netherlands, after getting up to over 300, showed some dominance, but it was against the Netherlands.

But the West Indies came crashing down for under 200 runs versus Afghanistan in the Super Six, which meant a must-win against host Zimbabwe.

Chasing 290, the West Indies were 242 for 2, only for their batting to implode; but they still won by four wickets.

Then, last Wednesday, a five-run win by the Duckworth/Lewis system in another must-win situation against Scotland, put the West Indies in next year’s finals.

Scotland dismissed the West Indies for 198, and were 125 for 5, when the match ended, compliments torrential rains.

Whilst it is mere conjecture as to whether or not the West Indies would have scalped the remaining five wickets, or Scotland would have made the runs needed, is immaterial.

The fact of the matter, is that West Indies cricket is poor, and getting poorer.

But it is what it is, this current state of West Indies cricket; this is what resulted in the team having to enter the World Cup basically through the back door.

Some of the die-hard of West Indies cricket would, in their defence, think that it is almost sacrilegious for the regional team not to be part of a global tournament.

Sentiments, though, are no longer in world sports, as no one gives you anything or asks for favours.

Therefore, all that is wrong with West Indies cricket was cruelly exposed in the qualifiers, which end this Sunday in Zimbabwe.

The West Indies batsmen, on occasions, were able to muscle a few balls to and over the boundary, but generally looked clueless when faced with some decent, but not top quality bowling.

On the other hand, save and except the efforts of Kemar Roach and Jason Holder, the West Indies bowling was less than ordinary.

To put it mildly, the West Indies in total, displayed brainless cricket throughout.

One wondered on whom should the blame fall, as there was no plan to get the totals when asked to chase, neither was there a plan when required to defend or set scores.

This is against the reality of the presence of all the trappings of coaches, analysts and other back room staff, who are paid handsomely.

However, the players themselves have to take responsibility and blame for what manifested on the field.

Hence, one cannot dare to envisage what our team would look like against the better teams when they journey to England and Wales next year.

The cause of the decay in West Indies cricket is more off the field, than it is on.

So, as the team heads out to England in 2019, no one should even harbour the thought of West Indies trumping the tournament, as is being sold by some members of the hierarchy of the regional administrative body for the sport.

As it stands, the West Indies, by the mere admission of having to qualify for a global tournament, having already missed out on a place in the champions trophy last year, has been relegated to the second tier of world cricket.

This must be accepted by the current set of administrators, as well as those of the immediate past, as they have skilfully architected West Indies’ demise.