That the West Indies cricket team failed to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing International Cricket Council’s T20 World Cup is now old news, or as they saying goes, water under the bridge.
This is why many persons took umbrage with the team selected even as the West Indies cricket selectors and team captain Kieron Pollard bristled with indignity at whoever dared to criticize the players selected.
The selectors and even Cricket West Indies (CWI) were obviously hoping that the team would defy the odds and prove the daoubting Thomases wrong. Turns out that the doubting Thomases were right after all.
Much has been written about the ages of some of the players selected and their performances were laid bare for all to see even the selectors.
To add insult to injury, Jason Holder, took it upon himself to rub the selectors’ noses in you know what, when he was belatedly selected after the injury to Obed Mc Coy.
Seems as if the selection panel as well as current captain Kieron Pollard and coach Phil Simmons, are reluctant to do the decent thing required of them after the embarrassing showing. In case they don’t know what the decent things is here, we are talking about resignations.
So what does the future hold for West Indies cricket in general and T20 cricket in particular?
Well, for starters it would be good if players are selected on merit for the various Test, One-Day and T20 sides.
Additionally, young, promising Under-17 and Under 19 players should be sent on `A’ team tours to get them prepared to replace the ageing stars and superstars that the present selection panel are loathe to replace.
Following China’s lead
If they are indeed serious about developing cricket, sports administrators in the Caribbean and especially those from CWI, should adopt the policy recently taken by China.
In naming their team to represent China at the upcoming World Table Tennis individual championships in Houston, Texas, United States of America, the Chinese Table tennis association omitted some key names opting for youth ahead of experience.
Missing from the team are Ma Long and Xu Xin among the men and Liu Shiwen among the women.
What makes the decision to not select the trio even more interesting is that fact that not only is Ma Long the defending champion, but he their most decorated male player and arguably the greatest male table tennis player of all time.
At just 17 Long became the youngest world champion at the 2006 Brennan team championships.
He won Olympic men’s singles Gold in Rio and again in Tokyo, and won the World championships in 2015, 2017 and 2019. He is also winner of the World Cup in 2012 and 2015 and has racked up some 28 ITTF tour titles.
Xin is currently ranked world No. 3 by the International Table Tennis federation in men’s singles and is a former world number one ranked player.
A winner of some 7 World Tour singles titles, he also captured World Championships in men’s doubles, mixed doubles and is a five time men’s team world champion including Rio 2016 when he teamed up with Long and Zhang Jike to win gold.
Shiwen is a five-time winner of the World Cup and is also a former women’s singles world champion.
She is also a three-time winner of the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals and a four time Asian champion.
She is also a former world number one player and is reputed to be one of the fastest players in the world.
She has been consistently ranked first or second in ITTF Women’s World ranking from early 2012 to mid-2017 (with no lower rank than third).
This then is the firepower China is willing to leave behind in their quest to give their young promising players such as Wang Chuqin and Liang Junkin, exposure at the highest levels.
“Unfortunately, Ma Long and Xu Xin will not be part of the line-up for the World Table Tennis Championships Finals,” said Qin Zhijian, head coach of the Chinese men’s team and secretary general of the Chinese Table Tennis Association.
“Instead, our younger charges have the opportunity to compete against a stellar field in a world-class event that is led by our world number one, Fan Zhendong.
“We are preparing for the future with another good showing at the Paris Olympics firmly in our sights.
“We need to provide our young athletes with the big match temperament to excel at the highest level.”
Fan Zhendong and Chen Ming the current men and women’s number one ranked players in the world are on the team though and the move might be aimed at affording them the opportunity to win singles gold at a World Championships since neither of them have managed to do so.
The 24-year-old Zhendong, will lead a Chinese team that also features Liang Jingkun, Wang Chuqin, Lin Gaoyuan and Zhou Qihao.
Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Xingtong and Wang Yidi will fly the Chinese flag in the women’s event.
But Li Sun, head coach of China’s women’s team, insisted Liu would still play a key role in helping to develop table tennis in the Asian nation.
“The World Table Tennis Championships Finals feature the best table tennis players from across the world,” said Li.
“We’ll have the opportunity to test ourselves against the world’s best players again and want to provide our athletes, especially Chen and Wang, the chance to take them on, especially our fiercest rivals from Japan.
“While Liu will not participate in the World Table Tennis Championships Finals, she is still expected to play an important role in the development of the sport in China given her vast experience and distinguished career record,” she said.
The West Indies cricket selectors have been reluctant to identify players to take the place of their stars.
They now have a chance to groom players to replace the ones who will no longer be there for the next T20 World Cup which is next year.
But it is not only at cricket where the ability to identify and groom players for succession is sadly lacking. This applies to other sports as well.
Perhaps the West Indies failure to reach the semi-finals is a blessing in disguise as it will force those in authority to take stock of the situation and make plans accordingly.
There needs to be a thorough review of the West Indies team’s participation at the World Cup and the reports of the captain and coach could give insights as to what went wrong and what should be done going forward.
Winning the competition next year might be a tough ask and the West Indies selectors would do well to think long term.
Knowing them though, it might just be the same old story, same old players, same old issues.
The ball, though is in their hands. Whatever they do with it is entirely up to them.
