West Indies - a year in decline

After the glory days of the 1980's, the West Indies performance in recent years remains a cause for concern in world cricket. With world attention focussed on the politics of, and wrangles within, the game, the casual cricket fan could be forgiven for not noticing West Indies' gradual decline.

This was a year when the team bade farewell to old faces and were left to search desperately for new; where tentative hope ultimately ended in bitter disappointment.

Courtney Walsh and Brian Lara stole the individual honours. Despite cricket's grounding as a team game, its obsession with statistics shows the power and importance of the individual. Walsh, at his cunning best, managed to pick up his 500th Test wicket in Trinidad. Jacques Kallis was his unlucky victim (a woeful leg before decision) as the great man took such an immense achievement in his stride.

Lara, who had threatened without fully delivering against Australia and South Africa, came alive in Sri Lanka. He hit three centuries, one of them a double, but could not prevent West Indies crashing to an ignominious 3-0 defeat. A collision with Marvyn Attapattu broke Lara's elbow, putting him out of the game for at least six weeks.

So much has changed in West Indies cricket since last year's ill-fated tour to Australia. At the turn of the year, West Indies braced themselves for another pummelling at the hands of a rampant Australia, looking to extend their Test record for consecutive wins.

The New Year Test at Sydney saw West Indies fight hard. Wavell Hinds showed a willingness to attack the quicks, and Ramnaresh Sarwan came back to form with a half-century. Despite this, West Indies were well beaten, with Australia reaching a victory target of 173 comfortably despite early alarms.

A lacklustre one-day series, where West Indies edged out Zimbabwe to make the final, was brightened by Brian Lara. He may not have deserved his man-of-the-series award, but did bat beautifully. His best knock, 116 in a losing cause, was brilliant. Carving the Australia attack to all parts, several times launching McGrath over cover, West Indies were denied the chance of an unlikely victory by rain. The final outcome saw Australia needing only two finals to comprehensively take the Carlton Series.

Such a woeful performance demanded swift action. The powers-that-be in West Indies cricket did not shy away from controversy. Sherwin Campbell was left out of the side to face South Africa, and Jimmy Adams was ousted from both the captaincy and team.

It was Carl Hooper who was chosen to succeed Adams. Hooper, who had enjoyed a two-year sabbatical from the national game, was not a popular choice. Sir Gary Sobers slammed the decision, which was altogether too much for commentator Michael Holding. The former Test great refused to commentate on the West Indies series with South Africa, dismissing the selectors as "a set of jokers."

Still, Hooper had been on top of his game in the Busta Cup, leading a confident young Guyanan side. Certainly the West Indies performed better against South Africa. Though the home side lost the series, they were at least able to compete. Unfortunately, this was a fairly turgid series, played on lifeless pitches. No batsman on either side managed a strike-rate of 50 runs per 100 balls, and all too often one side or other relied on defensive tactics.

Despite this, the matches were closely fought, with the game going down to the wire on several occasions. South Africa went one-up at Trinidad, a Test which will forever be remembered by Courtney Walsh, and could have pushed their advantage further in Barbados. Indeed, after collapsing to 82-7, it was only Dinanath Ramnarine and Merv Dillon's desperate time-wasting which saved the match.

At Jamaica, where Courtney Walsh bowed out of the game, West Indies produced a fine performance. Led by Dillon and Walsh, the bowlers struck back after another batting failure. Ridley Jacobs - who had made his first century in Tests earlier in the series - weighed in with 85 in the second innings to the delight of a rapturous crowd. Walsh picked up three wickets in his last hoorah, a just send-off for a true master.

After a routine thrashing by the Proteas in the ODI's, West Indies set off for Southern Africa. They emerged as surprise winners of the Coca-Cola Cup. Despite losing twice to India in the group stage, West Indies' victories over Zimbabwe ensured a passage to the final. They managed to reverse their fortunes against India at the perfect time. A solid team performance took West Indies to 290-6 from their allocation, and Corey Collymore picked up four wickets to stop an Indian charge.

A pace attack of Reon King, the recalled Pedro Collins and Colin Stuart are a long way from the great West Indian pacemen. They were too good for Zimbabwe though, as West Indies cruised to a first Test victory.

Though the second match was drawn, there was hope for the West Indies. Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were in the runs. Along with Marlon Samuels, who was a steady rather than spectacular performer on tour, the West Indies have a number of talented young players who must be helped to achieve. Hooper's quick-fire 149 at Bulawayo was a trip back in time. West Indies left Zimbabwe happy, and were further buoyed by a predictable ODI clean sweep in Kenya.

On then to Asia, where Sri Lanka promised to give Hooper's men a much tougher time. Brian Lara was back after an injury worry, having discussed his batting with Gary Sobers. Criminally, West Indies fans were not able to watch the series, and Lara's magnificent return to form, because of disputes over TV rights. Constantly we are told that the Caribbean is becoming more influenced by American sports. One has to ask how the next Ambrose or Walsh will chose cricket over basketball if they don't have the chance to watch the former and are saturated by the latter.

Apart from Lara's brilliance, this was a series perhaps best left unseen from a WIndies point of view. Murali was irresistible, picking up 11 wickets at Galle, and ten at Kandy. Whilst Lara was prepared to attack, the other batsmen pushed and prodded, a recipe for disaster against the best spinner in the world. Lara's run of scores - 178, 40, 74, 45, 221, 130 - could do little so long as the lower middle order batted so feebly. Sri Lanka took the series 3-0, also winning the triangular tournament with relative ease, and West Indies were left with much thinking to do.

The talent in the West Indies batting is enormous, a simple fact which can not be questioned. The bowling gives more cause for concern. For several years Merv Dillon and Reon King (amongst others) have been able to hide behind Walsh and Ambrose. No more. Now they must make their own way in the game.

West Indies must move quickly to arrest their decline. It truly is important for world cricket that West Indies are strong. They are 6th in the ICC Test Championship table, and desperately need a series win when India tour. Before that, they will travel to Pakistan. Pakistan have not fared well at home recently, and West Indies will look to reverse the 3-0 defeat imposed on them last time they visited.