Distressingly inadequate Windies

None of the first three games the West Indies cricket team has played at the start of the qualification rounds for the 2023 World Cup was impressive.

Actually, they were poor in all departments for any side participating in international cricket; but worst of all for the WI, whose successful background at the highest level of the sport saw them win the first two World Cups.

However, currently, they seem to be playing like novices.

The first game was against the USA, the second saw Nepal as their opponents, and thirdly, Zimbabwe, the strongest of the lot. Not one of these teams has ever scaled the heights of consistent success as compared to the WI.

Yet in 2023, the Caribbean men never seemed to be in a position to conquer these weaker units, and, in the case of the African team, they were well and truly beaten.

WI opened their campaign with a 39-run win over USA. They had a shaky start, but recovered sufficiently from 14 for two to reach 297 all out in the final over.

It was not the expected performance by their batsmen, especially not against the USA. The excuse given that there was a lot of moisture in the pitch, as the start was quite early in the morning, was given by Jason Holder, the man of the match, for scoring a 40-ball 56, batting at number eight.

He suggested that if batting first, “You need to be a little more watchful.”

I thought batsmen have always to be watchful when batting, regardless of moisture in the pitch or not. The USA got to 258, a decent score against their supposedly much stronger opponents.

The second game was Nepal, a team one would think the WI would put away peacefully, being reputedly so far in advance of their standard. However, the Nepalese stuck to their guns and put everything into their game. Batting first, WI lost two early wickets for nine runs, another collapse; I assume Holder would have been justified in his assessment of the early-morning start assisting bowlers.

Brilliant batting by skipper Shai Hope (132) and Nicholas Pooran (115, fortunately dropped by the wicket-keeper at five), was a good sign. However, that’s all in the game and West Indian fielders dropped their fair share of catches in both games. Setting a target of 340 in 50 overs. the Nepalese could only get to 238. Nevertheless, it was a win.

The Zimbabwe game was the third, and expected to be the toughest, as they were the strongest in this group, together with the WI. At last, Hope won the toss and had the opportunity to send their opponent to bat first.

Nonetheless, the Zimbabwean opening pair scored 63 for the partnership.

Whatever happened to the early-morning moisture assisting the new-ball bowlers and giving the batsmen trouble? Maybe the openers were more watchful than our guys!

A fighting comeback by WI saw the home team fold for 268.

The crowd was enormous, a sell-out, with many people having to occupy spaces outside the ground. It was inspirational to see and would certainly have assisted the spirit of the Zimbabweans to play with that support.

WI conceded victory by 35 runs.

The clash against Zimbabwe was a must-win game for WI. Nevertheless, poor cricket ruined their chances. Their fielding throughout the tournament was pathetic. The batting was inconsistent. The bowling suffered because of atrocious fielding.

Keemo Paul’s uncalled-for reverse sweep that got him out against Zimbabwe summed up the irresponsible approach of our cricketers in this tournament. Miserable catching and ground fielding, irregular line and length bowling and pitiable strokeplay, approached under an umbrella of casual unconcern, caused the WI team not to achieve the high standards expected of them in international tournaments.

Shouldn’t our numerous coaches be more motivational and encouraging? Take, for instance, Carl Hooper’s statement that: “WI could get worse, and how distressing that will be.” And this was before the tournament started! A coach shouldn’t release a statement like that even if he believes it. And Darren Sammy’s preaching too much and not uplifting the team. He doesn’t seem to understand the rudiments of coaching. WI have been distressingly inadequate under Sammy.

Their only hope is that they can raise their game sufficiently to do something miraculous and ensure they are not embarrassed by their absence from the cricket World Cup 2023. Although, with the greatest optimism in the world, I cannot see it happening.