PM: West Indies defeat 'worst match ever'

The Prime Minister, an avid supporter of West Indies cricket, was disappointed by the performance of the regional team in a match against The Netherlands on Monday which saw West Indies defeated at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

West Indies lost in a dramatic Super Over to the Netherlands, considered by many a minnow in world cricket. Before the exciting finish, West Indies scored a massive 374/6 in 50 overs, a total most people expected West Indies to defend.

Netherlands had other ideas and scored 374/9 in their turn at the crease to force a Super Over.

The result came as a shock to some as Netherlands is an ICC associate member along with other countries where cricket is still developing. Full members, like West Indies, have a rich cricket history and have been playing cricket at a higher level for the past 100 years. Australia, England and India are some of the other full member nations.

West Indies, winners of the first two editions of the World Cup in 1975 and 1979, are now in danger of not qualifying for the 2023 World Cup in India, which will be held from October 5-November 19.

Dr Rowley has voiced his opinions on West Indies cricket for years, along with other regional leaders like St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and former Grenada prime minister Dr Keith Mitchell.

“Today I saw THE WORST CRICKET MATCH ever played by a West Indies team,” Rowley wrote on Facebook on Monday.

“This amateurish demoralizing embarrassment has to stop. Playing for West Indies requires a desire to fight, to believe, to win. To saunter through to defeat is unacceptable.

"Playing for West Indies must be a treasured privilege available only to the best that are prepared to show character in defence of our legacy and our pride. Those to whom these truths mean nothing must not be allowed out in West Indies colours.”

Rowley said the poor results did not happen overnight.

“The stench of today’s embarrassment didn’t start today it had a long gestation period in two decades of disappointment so those who were ‘expecting’ should not come looking for any exemption here.”

West Indies were once one of the best cricket teams in the world, but since the mid-1990s the standard of cricket in the region has declined.