By Tony Cozier
As hope continues to rapidly fade for the revival of West Indies cricket, indeed for its very future, a series 53 years ago offers a glimmer that all is not yet necessarily lost.
It was South Africa’s 1952-53 tour of Australia. The gloomy predictions that preceded them as they set out on their mission resonate with the current West Indies. The atmosphere for the “young and inexperienced team” as it set out for Australia, under captain Jack Cheetham, could “scarcely have been more gloomy,” Wisden reported. Replace Jack Cheetham with Jason Holder, Australia with Sri Lanka and the West Indies’ scenario was comparable as they went into their latest series in Galle last Wednesday, a match that ended in an innings defeat yesterday. As pessimistic as the expectations were for a team suddenly without its suspended head coach and still troubled by selection issues, their desperation wasn’t quite as acute as South Africa’s at the time.
“Many, acknowledged as sound and dispassionate judges, had suggested that the tour should be cancelled
