The first installment of this article examined the performance of the senior West Indies cricket team in 2006 in both limited-over and Test Cricket. It showed that the regional team had done better in 2006 than in recent years in one-day international (ODI) matches, as seen in its impressive 4-1 defeat of third-ranked India in the Caribbean, but that there was little improvement in Test cricket. This installment of the article will examine the implications of these developments for the future of the West Indies in limited-over cricket. This examination is particularly pertinent in view of the imminence of the ICC World Cup Tournament which will begin in two months.
Caribbean cricket fans are wondering what are the prospects of Brian Lara’s team doing well in this premier limited-over competition which is being staged in the Caribbean for the first time and is generating greater interest than virtually any previous event of any kind in the region’s history. The regional team, its coach and most Caribbean people hope that the West Indies can win the coveted trophy.
Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan expressed the team’s hope for continued improvement before the beginning of the tri-nation tournament in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia last September thus: “We will be the first to admit that we have been inconsistent over the past few years but we’re starting to play some good cricket now in the One-Day form of the game and we need to build on the series victory we had over India in the Caribbean earlier this year.”
A few days ago coach Bennett King stated that he is “very optimistic” about the West Indies’ chances of winning the World Cup. He told reporters: “I think what we’ve seen is a progression of our play in the limited-overs format. The limited-overs format – at the moment suits us better. The concentration levels are shorter. This amount of time is quite good. With that in mind, we’re optimistic”.
Older Caribbean cricket fans remember with joy the West Indies triumphs in the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and also the sadness of the unexpected loss to underdogs India of the final in 1983 through overconfidence. The West Indies have not managed to reach the final of any of the five subsequent tournaments. Their best performance on these five occasions was in the 1996 tournament in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka when Richie Richardson’s team reached the semi-final which it lost to Australia by five runs. That was the tournament when the West Indies suffered the ignominy of a shocking defeat at the hands of Kenya.
In short, since 1983 the West Indies have not done well in the World Cup. What are the prospects of a West Indies victory on this occasion? There are clearly several formidable obstacles in the way.
Obstacles
One obstacle is history, for no country which has hosted the event has ever won the World Cup, notwithstanding the frequent talk about home advantage in sport. In cricket that consideration seems much more relevant to the longer version of the game than to the limited-over form. In short, history suggests that familiarity with the conditions, the support of the crowd etc will not give the West Indies any special advantage in the forthcoming tournament.
Nor do the current ICC rankings give the Caribbean people much hope. The West Indies are currently ranked seventh in limited-over cricket, edging past England owning to improved performances in the latter half of 2006. In the year the regional team won 18 and lost 14 of the 33 ODI matches which it played. Clearly, as these statistics indicate, it is not among the best teams in the world and therefore to win the World Cup will require a considerable degree of fortune.
Another obstacle to a West Indies victory is the team’s moderate bowling which in limited-over cricket continues to suffer in particular from two major deficiencies namely the absence of a penetrative bowler and the lack of any bowler or bowlers who can be economical in the final ten overs. With the World Cup still only three months away, it is not clear to whom skipper Brian Lara should entrust the ball for those critical final overs.
Where penetration is concerned, the West Indies badly need a bowler such as Brett Lee or Makhaya Ntini who frequently produce spells which rout the opposition.
An even more major obstacle which Lara’s team will have to overcome is its well-known inconsistency. This was very evident as recently as in the ICC Champions Trophy competition in India where the West Indies suffered a heavy loss to Australia in the final after defeating the Aussies in the preliminary round. Amazingly, the West Indies, batting first on a good wicket, were dismissed for a paltry score of 138 in 30.4 of the available 50 overs.
Though these obstacles are formidable, there are also a few factors which are encouraging to those who are hopeful of a West Indies victory.
Encouraging factors
The most encouraging factor is probably the fair success achieved by the West Indies in the two recent tournaments, the Tri series DLF Cup against India and Australia in Malaysia in September and the ICC Champions Trophy in India in October, in which the regional team was the losing finalist.
Another encouraging factor is the fact that the World Cup is a league tournament, not a series encounter. The West Indies have shown in 2006 that on a given day they can defeat any other team, including the mighty Aussies over whom they had two ODI victories in the year. It would be far more difficult for the seventh-ranked team to defeat better sides in a 3 or 5 match series than in a single game. As Bennett King observed last week. “The limited-overs format is an interesting game. Anyone on their given day, if they have a good day, can win a game of limited-overs cricket.
“If a side has a below par game, they can lose. What we’ve got to make sure of is that we don’t have a lot of bad games.”
In short, the World Cup format is to the West Indies’ advantage. Nevertheless, there are several important keys to the possibility of good success by the West Indies in the World Cup. These keys, including team selection and the performance of certain players, will be the focus of the third installment of this article.
