Don’t dump the West Indies

Talk of introduction of a two-tier Test system will prevent the former kings of cricket from competing at the top and their legends like Clive Lloyd and Andy Roberts are justifiably worried

Defeated by Pakistan inside three days of the opening Test at Multan. Dismissed for 44 by India in the women’s U-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Put out of the ODI women’s World Cup qualification race with their recent loss to Bangladesh in the second ODI at home. Things are indeed choppier in the sea of Caribbean cricket.

There’s more. The former kings of the willow game are at risk of being relegated in men’s Test cricket if a planned two-tier system comes to fruition. Indeed, that will be bitter for a region that has produced some of the finest cricketers across bygone eras.

Clive Lloyd is worried. Andy Roberts is more than just concerned. They have every reason to be. Lloyd made them the No.1 team to beat in the 1970s and mid-1980s. And Roberts spearheaded their famous pace quartet which also comprised Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft.

“We [West Indies] were the cash cows for a lot of countries over the years. People must recognise that. But we are at that situation now where we need the help, and we can’t get it,” Lloyd was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.

Lloyd was captain of the West Indies when the cream of their players signed up for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in 1977-78. The West Indies stars formed a big part of Packer’s overseas players group. He stretched every sinew to get them to sign. Remember that story about Michael Holding being approached by Packer’s trusted men Tony Greig and Austin Robertson at the fast bowler’s home in Jamaica. And how Holding soon realised that what was being offered was for real when he went to the bank to get his passbook (for the second time after a disappointing first visit) updated only to discover that there was a comma in that little savings book for the first time in his life? Packer knew that the West Indies were pivotal if World Series Cricket were to succeed. After getting them on board, they played sloppy cricket in one of their early games. Packer entered the dressing room and in Roberts’ words, delivered a “tongue-lashing.” The big Australian business tycoon also reportedly threatened to send lackadaisical players back home on a Qantas flight. The West Indians got the message and became virtually unbeatable.

The last of World Series Cricket Super Tests and one-day games were played in April 1979 in the West Indies. The 1979-80 season in Australia was called the peace season. West Indies had never beaten Australia in an away Test series until then. After the draw in the first of three Tests at Brisbane (a game he missed through injury), Lloyd led the West Indies to their first Frank Worrell Trophy triumph on Australian soil; some scars of the 1-5 shellacking in 1975-76 disappearing. The West Indies were regular visitors to Australia in the 1980s, the same country which could back the two-tier system along with England and India. Post 1979-80, teams from the Caribbean figured in either Tests or one-dayers or both, in 1981-82, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87 with the last one for the decade being 1988-89.

Roberts told me recently that India must support the West Indies’ cause in this two-tier plan. “India should be standing up for the West Indies. We made visits when either other countries did not want to tour or their top players pulled out. We came each time,” he said. The West Indies were the first visitors for a Test series in 1948-49 after the first one on Indian soil was played against Douglas Jardine’s MCC team. Gerry Alexander’s side was the second West Indies team to visit India in 1958-59 and Garry Sobers & Co arrived in 1966 for a three-match Test series. Like in 1958-59, the 1966-67 West Indies team comprised big names like Rohan Kanhai, Wes Hall, Conrad Hunte and Basil Butcher. England on the other hand, had their share of India tour absentees. In 1972-73, Tony Lewis, who hadn’t played a Test, was appointed captain of the MCC in the absence of Ray Illingworth, who had retained the Ashes in 1972. John Snow and Geoff Boycott, who figured in that series as well, were not part of the tour party in India.

The only second-string Test team the West Indies sent was in 1978-79, when their main players were part of World Series Cricket. And had Joel Garner not been injured, he would have joined his fast bowling mates Roberts, Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Wayne Daniel and Winston Davis on the 1983-84 tour of India.

The West Indies have not come out smelling of roses through their Test performances. They have not won a Test series for almost two years, and that was against Zimbabwe in early 2023. The year 2022 was glorious with series wins over England and Bangladesh at home while their previous major triumph was when they beat England 2-1 at home in 2019. But despite victories being few and far between, it will be a great pity if they are made to compete among the relatively new entrants at the Test level. Somewhere down the line, legacy should matter and West Indies are rich on that score.

Their role in the entertainment quotient of Test cricket can never be underestimated. We all enjoyed the recent India v Australia series although India could have made it look more competitive than 1-3. There was a time —in the late 1950s in Australia—when crowds were not being entertained. Sir Don Bradman, who was involved in cricket administration then, stepped in and encouraged the Australians to play attractively. The West Indies did the same and what emerged was the greatest-ever Test series in 1960-61.

Caribbean cricket’s current problems must be taken on board. There are no quick fixes, but lending them another helping hand would be akin to plucking a catch in a half-chance situation.

mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello 
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.

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