Premature panic, short memories
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from February 1987.
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Ever since the Windies drew their series in Pakistan and then failed to reach the final of the two limited overs competitions in Australia, an alarmist attitude has set in. Simply because the team has failed to dominate the game as it had done for the past ten years, the entire Caribbean has gone beserk, wondering what has gone wrong with the squad.
What is wrong with the West Indies team? In a word, nothing! It's a proven fact that every team in this world has got a record low Test score. In the case of the West Indies that dubious mark is 53, "achieved" during their recent Pakistani tour.
And as for not making the one-day finals, can we expect that the team will forever continue to rule world cricket? Most assuredly we cannot.
I have a very vivid recollection of the First Test match played in Sabina Park last February during the English tour of the Caribbean. The West Indies were hammering the England team but in the George Headley Stand an Englishman was bedecked in a Union Jack shirt, showing his allegiance no matter what the score.
Now it's come time for the English team to walk proud. They beat Australia for the Ashes and then triumphed in the two subsequent one-day series. Mike Gatting is predicting that this might just be the start of great things and they are delighted.
I say full marks to them. There was a long time when they had to take their licks. They did and now we find the shoe on the other foot. And you know what? We will have to live with it!
But what is wrong with the West Indies team? Why aren't they dominating like before? How in the world do they dare lose some competitions? Blasphemy! Horrors!
I tell you nothing is wrong with the team! Let's go through the team and examine the "problem" areas as pointed out by the press. They are many and the Trinidad Guardian has called for a "probe" into the dismal showing of the team. Really. A probe!
OPENING BATSMEN
Let's start at the very beginning, shall we. Gordon Greenidge, who has given yeoman service over the years, had the gall to suggest that he was bored and lacked motivation. How could he even entertain such thoughts the press said, and isn't it true that he's old (36). Drop him! By all means, drop him!
Drop a man because he's old. But isn't that forgetting that Clive Lloyd went on forever on creaky knees until 40 and was playing vintage cricket? Let's establish this now. Don't drop a man because of his years, but his performance! Incidentally, Greenidge and Haynes put on 150 for the first wicket in the recent Test. Greenidge made 78. Not bad for an old man, huh?
And Greenidge has been injured too, remember. As for Haynes, he's not old enough yet for us to assault him. The pair has O-N-L-Y been the most successful tandem ever to open a Test innings. But no, the solution is to drop them. MIDDLE ORDER
Here resides a young man named Richie Richardson. He has been hailed as a future great, cut from the same cloth as former stroke-making stars. Recently, Richardson has been going through a rough patch. Name me a batsman who hasn't and rest the case there.
Then there is Larry Gomes. Another man who has provided yeoman service over the years. It's been said that Gomes was the least attractive of the batsmen but the most valuable. He held together the innings when all others failed. But he has been having it rough and he's in his 30s so the cry has come to drop him, also.
Augustine Logic is a man with whom the selectors have been more than patient. Time and time again he has failed, but his brilliance in the field and occasional shining with the bat has led to his being retained on the team. The selectors obviously feel that he will "come good." whether we can wait much longer is the question.
THE CAPTAIN
As expected, when something goes wrong, he will catch it good. Richards has. Now as to his batsmanship, Richards has few equals. The more I see and hear of him, the less I'm impressed by him as a person. Richards comes across with a measure of arrogance and is not above scolding players and getting really miserable with them before thousands of spectators.
But his record as captain is excellent. In 13 Tests the West Indies have won 8, lost 1 and drawn 4. Their limited overs record was equally as good before the recent problems. Remember that Clive Lloyd, as good as captain as he was, took time to mould the giant-killer teams. Richards also must be given his chance.
WICKET-KEEPER Jeff Dujon is regarded as a slick batsman and becoming a better keeper, if indeed he's not already the best in the world. Now he has been in poor form lately and put down a couple of important catches against New Zealand. Should we drop him also, and give Payne the spot? Probably there will be some who will be in favor of this. That's how ridiculous this affair can get.
BOWLERS Holding, Walsh, Marshall and Garner. Holding is getting up there and will soon quit as will Garner. Walsh and Marshall are young and getting better. In Holding's and Garner's cases, they have proven that they can still do the job. The recent spate of failures hasn't been as a result of bad bowling but batting. Just to prove that he still can perform, Garner snapped up seven wickets against New Zealand.
But the quartet couldn't dismiss the Kiwis in the second innings. So what's the suggestion? Drop them too.
Again, don't drop a man because of his age. Drop him in light of his performance.
When Holding and Garner call it quits, there's a long line waiting to fill the gaps. People like Patterson, Benjamin, and Gray. CONCLUSIONS
As cricket lovers and followers of the West Indics, we have become spoiled with success. We love to dominate but have difficulty in taking our blows. How fickle and brittle is our allegiance to a team and to individuals when we forget so quickly. The team went into a collective batting slump. It doesn't happen often, but it happens.
Viv Richards' job is to gel men from different cultural, ethnic, and politicalbackgrounds into a fighting unit. All is well when the guys are winning, but losing pinpoints the problems of such a task.
It's an impossibility for the West Indies to dominate forever. The game is bigger than any one team, even though the West Indies dominated for many years. The English team's performance was a delight to all cricket lovers. The West Indian selectors have made decisions which are questionable, but by and large have stuck by men who have proven themselves over the years. Logie's retention over Carl Hooper and Carlisle Best is questionable, and the choice not to include Patrick Patterson in the team since the Pakistani tour is a bit hard to fathom.
If Roger Harper is indeed being groomed as a future captain, then it seems a strange decision to drop him from the Kiwis tour in favor of fellow-Guyanese Clyde Butts.
The years and the tear take their toll. What with limited over play and the Tests, cricketers are put under great mental and physical stress. The effects will show up. And the team is a better team against pace than spin.
Competition is the name of the game. The West Indies will have to rebound to prove their dominance and other countries will enjoy their exit from the doldrums.
