Beginning the assessment of the WI decline

IS WEST Indies cricket in decline an adequate explanation of the relative performances of the West Indies teams over the past two-plus decades?

Is it not also important to factor in the improvements and other changes that have been occurring in other countries?

For example, while, decades ago, India used to open its bowling attack with spinners, it now has an overabundance of excellent fast bowlers and, along with that, batters who are now competent not only against spin but also fast bowling. Further, so have the strengths of the Indian economy and, with that growth, the increased availability of resources for needed cricket.

So, what is the state of WI cricket? The Jamaica Observer, in its July 1, 2023 editorial, stated: “The harsh truth, as voiced by West Indies head … Mr Daren Sammy, is that the loss to the Netherlands reflected the state of West Indies cricket”. Is this an appropriate assessment given the data reported in the table below, or is it an emotional reaction? While this table does not report on the performances of the WI teams in ICC tournaments, it also does not indicate that the WI teams’ recent poor performances in ICC tournaments are good reflections of ‘the state of West Indies cricket’.

It seems to me that constructive analysis is needed as to why West Indies performances in recent ICC tournaments are not in sync with its strong performances in tour matches, even against more highly ranked teams such as England and South Africa.

Cricket is played in several spaces, including the physical, emotional-mental, knowledge, and economic spaces.

In this article, I will comment on the physical space. In Part 2, I will offer comments on the emotional-mental, knowledge, and economic spaces.

Physical

1. Practice

Many experts have commented on the importance of practice to successful performance. One question is: What are the practice activities needed beyond the standard batting, bowling & fielding drills, and adequate physical conditioning?

• For away tours, there is the need to practise on pitches that are relatively like that of the host countries. Unlike earlier periods when visiting teams would have several matches in the host country to acclimatise them to playing conditions, that is not the case today. So, how could this be accomplished in a manner that is economically feasible, given that most of the WI players do not get contracted by host country entities (e.g., English county cricket) to play in their local tournaments?

• For away tours, the batters would need to practise bowling like what would be offered by the bowlers of the host country. Similarly for the batters. So, how could this be accomplished in a manner that is economically feasible?

• Particularly with respect to Test cricket, the West Indies cricketers need to be playing more Test and regional First-Class matches. While Cricket West Indies (CWI) has very limited control with respect to playing more Test matches annually (particularly against India, England & Australia), it has control over the number of regional First-Class matches played each year, which currently ranges between five and 10.

So, up to mid-July 2023, West Indies had played only three Test matches in 2023, then had to play India, which had in the same period played five Test matches against Australia. So, obviously, India would be better prepared in terms of match practice.

2. Preparation of pitches

• For home series, the pitches should be prepared in a manner that favours the relative strengths of West Indies, or at least doesn’t favour the relative strengths of its opponents. In the current India tour of the West Indies, the pitches used in Dominica and Trinidad were described by commentators as being like (Indian) ‘sub-continent conditions’, favouring spin. So, West Indies was at a disadvantage, as the India spinners were better and more experienced and the India batsmen were more experienced at playing spin. Further, although India also has excellent fast bowlers, fast bowling was the area where West Indies could be more competitive. A similar situation occurred with the first One-Day International. When a team tours India, the pitches are prepared in a manner that favours the relative strengths of their team.

n Prof Kweku-Muata Osei-Bryson is professor emeritus of information systems at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. He was also a visiting professor of computing at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

Period Tour Series Result

March 3 – 28, 2021 Sri Lanka in WI T20I WI won 2:1

ODI WI won 3:0

Test Tied 0-0

Jan 22 - May 24, 2022 England in WI T20I WI won 3:2

ODI WI won 3:0

Test WI won 1:0

May 31 - June 4, 2022 WI in Netherlands ODI WI won 3:0

June 16 - July 16, 2022 Bangladesh in WI T20I WI won 2:0

ODI Bangladesh won 3:0

Test WI won 2:0

Jan 28 - Feb 16, 2023 WI in Zimbabwe Test WI won 1:0