Being West Indian and a true cricket fan, nothing will please me more than for West Indies to lift the World Cup 2007 trophy. I remember vividly tears falling from my eyes on March 19, 1968 when England romped home to a thrilling victory against our home team after our captain Sir Gary Sobers declared in Trinidad and set Colin Cowdrey’s men a moderate total for victory.
Gone are those days and we are now faced with reality. We can no longer live and believe in hope and grand expectations when our cricket is in shambles; from WICB to the selectors, organizers, territorial boards, captains, teams and players. I cannot leave out the print media, commentators and some of our political leaders in this saga. Absolutely abominable in most cases and thus my main reason for thinking our team will be next off the list of teams making it to the semifinals.
Let me start with the exclusion of Runako Morton from the team. No one can deny that Ronnie had an awful tour of India. However, being with the team for the past year and performing creditably on occasions, he got the necessary experience, exposure, fitness training and was able to prove himself a worthy cricketer against top teams like Australia and New Zealand. To remove him from the mix just prior to the ultimate challenge and replace him with untested, unproven and inexperienced 19-year-old Kieron Pollard is utter folly.
We have followed the saga of our cricket for too long to ignore the ruining machines. Starting with WICB and their election policies, their ever so often disputes with WIPA and sponsors, these long standing problems set the trend for a domino effect right through to our on-the-field performances and ultimately the fans.
Anyway, let me get back to the reasons why I doubt our team will make it to the semifinals.
West Indies had a disastrous last tour to India and our players returned home to relax. While all other top teams were involved in good competitive series, we heard nothing of our players preparing for World Cup 2007. Eventually we heard of 5 players showing up for a camp and the team arriving in Jamaica disorganized and in disarray.
Our bowling team has proven to be below second class. The faster bowlers lack the required pace, all with the exception of Jerome Taylor and Darren Powell. These two, however, may not be relied on to consistently produce good spells and are usually rather expensive. I can live with Taylor but Powell does not merit a place in a West Indies World Cup squad. Selectors, why not Daren Sammy?
Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo are all below par for World Cup cricket. I expect Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle to produce some decent and economical spells, but they both can be taken to the cleaners when the batsmen decide to go after them.
Bowling summary, pathetic.
Fielding is key in ODIs and especially World Cup. Most of our fielders are decent at best, a few good and one or two brilliant. The catching at the highest level is average, the throwing arms of too many fielders are weak.
Our wicket keeper is also prone on making more blunders than is acceptable at the top level, his endurance and ability to stand up to pressure as the game prolongs is visibly lacking and that is critical. The wicket keeper is usually the ultimate benchmark from which a team can be judged and this again is another negative for our team.
Fielding summary, average.
Our batting is definitely contrasting, unpredictable and predictable. With all certainty we can expect that after the loss of 5 or 6 wickets, the innings will rapidly end. Unfortunately, our strong point is in our unpredictable top line batting which has the firing power to destroy any bowling attack in the world. Led by captain Brian Lara who I will never fault as a batsman, we have in him what it takes to win any cup.
However, at this stage where his knees are aching, his batsmen are not giving adequate support and his natural attacking style of batting, one should not expect this genius to set the world ablaze and take us through to the gold.
Chris Gayle at the top of the order is another proven match winner. He can savagely demolish any bowling attack and set up the team nicely, but bowlers have recently found a way of sending him back to the pavilion early. This they will certainly thrive on and Gayle will have an enormous task to counteract that ploy.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul the ever reliable cannot do it all by himself. His stamina has been tested and found wanting in recent times, plus some failure is due him after a wonderful last series in India.
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith and Dwayne Bravo are all in the same category. Dwayne Smith is a proven failure with no hint of improving, Pollard has never been tested and the others are of unknown quality.
Batting summary, sorrowful.
How can we win a World Cup with a team like this?
Our captain has his ideas and plans that are implemented as he sees it. Seldom is he seen in consultation with his experienced team players or any other team member. Although nothing is really wrong with that, the fact that his strategies, plans and execution thereof fail him repeatedly, the evidence of bad captaincy cannot be a myth. Great batsman Lara, genius in my opinion, has been wretched as captain and is partly the root of West Indies steady and disgraceful decline.
In a nutshell, the game of glorious uncertainties will provide it’s most glorious moment if West Indies gets that cup. Despite what all the former greats are saying, despite home advantage and Brian Lara’s capabilities, despite it all this unprepared and uncommitted team will get their just reward on the day of reckoning.
My other pick for bowing out for the semi finals is England. Their recent amazing turn around to beat Australia was unexpected and extremely positive for them.
Being able to keep that momentum and perform well enough to be in the final 4 is unlikely. Kevin Petersen and Andrew Flintoff will have to excel in order for them to accomplish that fete.
My final 4 will then be Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa. However, I won’t be surprised if Sri Lanka gets in ahead of one of these four.
