West Indies cricket team performance in the last Test against Australia left the fans at home and abroad in shock, humiliated, in emotional distress, angry and ashamed. The typical reaction by fans of course was, enough is enough time to burn this house down. Burn it all to the ground. Everyone, from President to Coaches to Board members to Players must go, fire them all. Fans reacted to the pain and anguish felt by turning on cricket administration officials, coaches, and players in the harshest and most derogatory way.
It is no surprise that this is the first emotional response to such a shameful performance. It is now time for a reality check and reflection to understand what made West Indies cricket great in the past and how we can return to those glory days once again.
In the past the West Indies cricket team was great because the top batters all averaged over forty runs and several averaged over fifty runs. The deadly pace attack in the past is well known but we want to focus on batting since the bowlers did a fantastic job in this series.
To be sure the West Indies teams in the past had several extremely low scores with a better batting line up than this current team, like 54 at Lords in 2000 against England, 53 against Pakistan in 1986, 51 against Australia in Trinidad in 1947, and 47 against England in Jamaica in 2004. This does not negate the point that poor batting performance has been the major problem with West Indies cricket since 2000.
Today in the West Indies regional competition no player, whether in the test team or outside it averages forty runs in test matches. Craig Braithwaite, Kyle Myers, and Germane Black wood have an average of over 30runs, all three have been woefully out of form in recent times and could not be reasonably selected to play in the current test side. All other batters in the region average in the twenties and below in test cricket.
The West Indies team has been in decline since 1995. The pace of decline has picked up in the last decade and the team now ranks ninth in the test rankings. We are the worst test side among the traditional test teams. The West Indies winning percentage in test cricket between 2000 and 2009 was 16.66 percent, between 2010 to 2025 the winning percentage is approximately 26.5 percent. In other words, the West Indies test team has been losing for thirty years. The anger directed at the present administration, coaches and players is simply a culmination of this losing record.
Since 2000 the West Indies have produced only four batters averaging forty and over runs in Test Cricket. Chanderpaul who last played in 2015, Gayle who last played in 2014 and Sarwan who last played in 2011 and Lara who last played in 2006. This means that the West Indies have not produced a batter averaging over forty runs and over in test cricket since 2015.
This compares to all the West Indian top batsmen prior to 2000 averaging forty plus runs, with several averaging over fifty such as: Headley, Weeks, Worrel, Walcott, Sobers, Nurse, Hunt, Rae, Stollmeyer, Davis, Butcher, Khanai, Fredericks, Lloyd, Rowe, Kallicharan, Greenidge, Richards, Haynes, Richardson, and Adams.
Only Hooper, with a runs test average of 36.4 and Logie with a test average of 35.79 and Gomes with a test average of 39.63 played during that great era as a leading batter averaging below 40 runs.
Before year two thousand all West Indian top batters played well over three hundred first class matches with some batters playing over five hundred matches in cricket tournaments in England and Australia, honing their skill developing the mental toughness, discipline, stamina and work ethic as well as gaining the experience of playing in different conditions against strong oppositions week in week out. These batters benefitted from high quality coaching and training facilities, which exist in England and Australian clubs.
Before the year two thousand the batters only had to concentrate on developing the skills required for Test cricket. All the focus of the coaching and training was on developing skills required to succeed at playing in test matches.
Great batsmanship clearly requires years of playing a large number of competitive first-class games and consistently performing well in first class matches against tough opponents. The best place to learn and develop batting skills is in the middle, playing game after game against tough opponents in different batting conditions.
Today none of the top regional batters have played a hundred first class matches or played for any significant period, if at all, in the county or league matches in England, Australia or South Africa the traditional finishing school for our past great batters.
Many of our top first-class batters in the region have played less than 60 first class matches, and they must also focus on developing two different skill sets for test matches and T20 cricket. Today our Batters must depend on regional training facilities, the regional Coaches and on regional cricket tournaments for their development.
Sadly, the regional training infrastructure, coach quality and the competitive nature of regional cricket are all inadequate to fully develop the players’ skill sets, discipline, and mental toughness. Successful batters in regional tournaments have great difficulty in transitioning to a successful test career.
While efforts are currently under way to develop the regions own finishing school by developing regional academies, youth age group pathway teams, and tournaments, break out league tournament and enhanced coach training ,this evolving system has not been as effective as the finishing school training past great players received from playing professionally in England and Australia first class and league tournaments over several years.
T20 franchise tournaments have lured away at least eight West Indian talented players who could have developed into successful test batters. Rutherford, Simmons, Pooran, Pollard, Shai Hope, Brandon King, Elvin Lewis, and Hetmeyer, all had the potential to develop into successful test batters but were all lost to T20 Franchise cricket. When one adds Darren Bravo and Sarwan who retired early, both lost to conflicts with the West Indies Cricket Board and the loss of Jofra Archer to England, it means up to eleven players that could have strengthened the current West Indies test cricketing team were lost. Hopefully, Shai Hope and Brandon King, having just returned to Test cricket will stay the course and realize their Test Cricket potential.
The West Indies Cricket Board during the glory days of West Indian cricket dominance never had to focus on developing regional infrastructural facilities, high quality coaching and training programs, the age group development programs, the centers of excellence, the group age academies and world class training facilities required for successfully producing test quality cricketers. Since prior to the year 2000 England, Australia and South Africa’s domestic cricket infrastructure and competition provided the finishing school for our top players who arrived at test cricket ready to play and to excel.
The West Indies Cricket Board lost precious time during those turbulent years of conflict between the players Union and the West Indies Cricket Board as well as the conflict between the West Indies Cricket Board and regional Governments.
None of the West Indies current batters had the fortune of developing their craft utilizing the English Australian or South African training, coaching and facilities and playing hundreds of first class matches in those countries to hone their skills, mental toughness and develop the discipline required to succeed at the international level. Their present skill set reflects the inadequacies of the regional infrastructure, coaching, training programs and first-class competitions.
The West Indies administration was slow, extremely slow to develop the modern training facilities, the high-performance academies for the various age group development programs, the coach’s development program, the touring development programs for all age groups to expose young players to different conditions and playing against different high-quality opponents.
Development of the regional infrastructure and development programs and retention of players from choosing T20 exclusive careers require financing, large sums of money for both development capital investments and current operation expense financing. West Indies Cricket Board over the past 25 years lacked financial capacity and failed to develop alliances with governments and corporate benefactors to assist in financing the development of the required infrastructure and player development programs.
In addition, changing the revenue sharing formula for bi lateral tours, where visiting teams no longer get a portion of the revenue generated from the series along with the hegemonic grabbing of most of the monies generated by ICC by the top three cricketing nations, have essentially deprived the West Indies Cricket Board of the financial resources required to develop adequate regional infrastructure and player development programs as well as retain players to participate in test matches and first class program
The West Indies team that played against Australia had only one Batter averaging over thirty and he was woefully out of form. The West Indies team also had several batters returning to the red ball test game after a long break away. To add to the challenge the batting pitches were horrendous for batting, with balls seaming swinging uneven bounce and in the last match a grassy pitch with a pink ball under lights doing crazy dangerous things with many deliveries unplayable.
The batting conditions were so difficult that it challenged the top Australian world class batters and Alzaree Joseph breathing fire and brimstone had the current best player in the world Steve Smith refusing to play in line of the ball preferring to play backing away to square leg. Sabina Park roared, West Indies fans at home, at work jumping for joy, excited, happy, chin music was back on the West Indies fast bowler play list. That is how we play, that is how we should play, raw aggression, pace like fire, deadly accuracy, bounce, and movement, taking no prisoners, ready to burn down Babylon.
To expect the West Indies Batters, with their poor batting record and experience playing against the best bowling attack in the world, to thrive on these super friendly bowling tracks and perform at a high level is irrational. The fact that the West Indian test team was competitive until the last innings of each test is highly commendable. Perhaps if the West indies team held their catches in the first test and the bad umpiring decisions did not go against the West Indies team, just maybe the West Indies could have had confidence boosting first test match result.
The hard lessons learned, and the challenges faced in this series and the flaws in our batsmen technique, temperament, self belief and heart to face up to every challenge head on, never backing down but fighting, toughing it out even in the most difficult conditions should be put to good use in a corrective intensive training program.
So yes, in this time of shame let us not throw our players, coaches, administrators under the bus, we have lots of work to do. Selection is not the problem, quality of administration is not the problem; the head Coach is not the problem. The issue is the need for a system that gives our players the finishing school training that gives them the skill set to succeed at test cricket and maintaining a batting average of over forty runs.
It is critically important that the West Indies focus on developing an effective finishing school training program for young batters. First by getting young players attached to clubs and leagues in Australia England India and Pakistan playing day in day out against tough oppositions in different conditions at least for a three-month multiple year period.
Secondly the West Indies should increase significantly the number of A Team touring series a year, where batsmen and bowlers who are next in line for selection can play a large number of matches in various locations and against tough opponents.
We need also to get our Legends involved in the development of our players in a meaningful structured and continuous manner. Every under nineteen and A team player should have one of our cricketing legends as a mentor, two of whom should travel with every cricket team. The legions should also be used to review the batting or bowling performances of A team members and under nineteen players offering advice based on their experience.
Let us make this a point of departure from mediocrity. All West Indian fans and players should know and accept that our batters must average at least forty runs at every age group level to be considered for promotion to the next level. Every batter should go through a finishing school training or internship process before been exposed at the test level, averaging at least forty runs over five A team touring series. Let us make selection of batters not an issue of preference but as a reflection of performance based on publicly know standards.
The administrators must get going, complete the infrastructure and facility development work, build out the age group development and touring programs, expand academy programs, bring in world class batting coaches for our age group training program, fight for financial justice at ICC, create meaningful alliances with governments for infrastructure and school boy and cricket clubs development programs, and raise financing from commercial and development partners.
Let us all stop arguing for players who have not reached an average of forty at their age development level, in the A side and in the test side after a maximum of ten innings. Batters who average less run the high risk of losing their selection on the team based on the head coach preference.
Even in the dark there is a glimmer of light. Our bowling brought great joy. Our batters fought until the pressure proved too much. Out of our 27-run shame let us go back to the training ground and fix what needs fixing. The West Indies still have great talent; our batters must and will rise again. We are die- hard Fans; We Rally in good times and bad. The West Indies will be great once again.
Go forth our young warriors, you are on the front line representing your people, their hope, and aspirations; duty calls, the battle is hot, let us fight fire with fire, steel with steel. We must meet the challenge head on, no retreat no surrender. We did it before, we can do it again; We shall conquer, we will Win.
