WEST INDIES CRICKET - From Glory to Despair

WEST INDIES CRICKET - From Glory to Despair

Once upon a time, West Indies were lions on the field and now went into oblivion. The most pathetic story of West Indies Cricket. Even when I pen down their gory details, I feel pain for them.

They were ruthless, magicians, rock solid, gifted, aggressive and determined lot. Words will always be short when we describe West Indies when they ruled the world over a decade.

In Sir Garfield Sobers, the world was witness to a magician at work.

- A South pa and free flowing top order batsman

- A skillful medium pacer

- A true spinner of the web

- An athletic fielder

He was, and is, and shall remain the all-time all rounder in the world World salutes his all-round ability.

Under Clive Lloyd's capacity as Captain of West Indies, he unleashed a 4-pronged pace attack to inflict havoc in the mind and heart of opposition batsman. Each one was better than the other in class and skill. The line-up included Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshal, Michael Holding and Joel Garner. Their bowling style changed according to the conditions, pitch behaviour and circumstances in which the game is panned out. This combination became a live threat to opposition. If the conditions and pitch assist swing bowling, they switch to swing bowling. if it happens to be a flat track, they resort to brutal pace.. Such was variation in their armory, they could adapt to any condition. ,

Richie Benaud, the renowned Aussie commentator admired the bowling run up of Michael Holding so much that he compared it with the smooth sailing Rolls Royal Car.

Imran Khan too was all praise for this bowling combination.

This pace attack tasted defeat to all the teams in their own den. Their bench strength Colin Croft once single handedly tore apart South Africa.

Under Lloyd's leadership, he was fortunate enough to have the services of batsmen of International repute. The opening combo of Gorden Grinidge and Desmond Haynes is still considered to be a all-time best opening pair produced by any nation. Of the two, Haynes was more aggressive and Greenidge being solid and stupendous. Followed by the irresistible master class of Viv Alexander Richards. Richard's arrival on the wicket was the result of bowlers running for cover. Richards was a class apart for his domineering batsmanship. Whether spin or pace, Richards dealt with all bowlers with unmatched aggression. Clive Lloyd, the West Indies Captain happened to be the most ruthless and hard .hitter of cricket ball.

Once Bishen Singh Bedi was asked during the post match conference, as to why he did not give a hand to Lloyd's hit at the bowling end, he quipped, he did not want to spoil his career with hand injury.

Apart from the above batsmen, there were other notable batsmen who marked their niche with the willow, such as, Alwin Kalicharan, Rohan Kanhai, Lawrence Rowe etc. etc.

West Indies during Clive Lloyd's regime white washed all cricket playing nations in their own den. Their bowling attack was intimidating and their batting was aggressive and revolutionary. As a result, cricket lovers all over the globe idiolised them.

But their dominance started fading away when in order to earn more money, they joined Kerry Packers series or started playing county cricket.

From the financial point of view, the West Indies Board was not a rich body. and could not give a lucrative offer to its players. As time progressed, there came a paradigm shift among athletes. Their bent of mind shifted from Cricket to Basketball in the US where much more money was on offer. This proved to be the downfall of West indies Cricket.

FROM GLORY TO DESPAIR