Do not read too much into the West Indies victory

Aug 31, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

In 1976, the West Indies Cricket Team toured England. The English team must have fancied themselves against the tourists who had come off a 5-1 drubbing by the Australians in the tour Down Under.
The England captain, the South Africa-born Tony Grieg, was boastful about his team’s prospects. He even went as far as saying that he would make the West Indies grovel.
These were words which came back to haunt him. The West Indies demolished England in what was the beginning of their golden run in international cricket. Led by Clive Lloyd, the West Indies won the five-test series 3-0 and also won all three of the one day internationals.
In those days, the West Indies tour lasted for months and required matches against all of the county sides. According to ESPN stats, of the 28 first class matches which were played, the West Indies won 20, drew 6 and only lost two, one of which was to the county champions Middlesex. Tony Grieg’s comment only served to motivate the West Indies players to do well.
The West Indies are again touring England. They lost the first Test disastrously in three days. The English media and cricket personnel had a field day. The team was described by one commentator as the worst team he had ever seen in all his years of watching Test cricket. Even some West Indians chimed in, bemoaning the poor performance of the West Indies team.
The West Indies rebounded this week with a hard fought victory on a pitch which was wearing. It was a total team effort by the players who showed great character. It will, however, take more than character for the team to prevent the English from taking the final Test match.
The West Indies have a decent side. What they have lacked is consistency, in both batting and bowling. There is need for two tearaway fast bowlers. The West Indies team needs a genuine leg spinner. Devendra Bishoo has changed his bowling style. He should go back to his original style of bowling which enabled him to make a sensational debut in international cricket.
The team does not have any great players. None of those in the team are likely to emerge as cricket greats. There is no batsman with the tenacity of Chanderpaul, the devastating shots of Vivian Richards, the power of Clive Lloyd or the strokeplay of a Rohan Kanhai or a Brian Lara. There is no one also in the West Indies who can be said to be destined for greatness.
But all is not lost. The West Indies now have a core group of players around which the coaches can work. There is no need to chop and change this team. The players must be given an extended run, because the reserves back in the Caribbean also do not possess anyone who deserves to be in the side.
The coaches should try to work with the present bunch at least over the next five years. They should not disrupt the development of the team by trying to chop and change or to facilitate so-called senior players coming back into the squad. An exception can be made for Darren Bravo who was unfortunately removed in the first place, but it is no use investing in any older players.
The present group should be given that security of knowing that they will be around for at least the next five years once they perform consistently. Once they do so, the West Indies should be able to perform well, once they are able to recruit two genuine fast bowlers.
Too much should not be read into West Indies’ victory. The team still has a long way to go. It may still end up losing the rest of its matches. It is a relatively inexperienced team, but the players constitute a core group around which the West Indies can be constituted over the next five years. In the meantime, the WICB can move forward with its development programme.