My Class IV English textbook had a chapter on Central America, but all I remember was the phrase 'Calypso Cricket' and a photograph of cricket on the beach that was a part of that lesson. Ever since, I've had a fascination for cricket in the caribbean, second only to my rather partisan following of Indian cricket. Against all other nations other than India, I've been a Windies fan.
In the 1982-83 series in the West Indies, when radio was all that we had to keep track of cricket, one heard the voice of the ageless Tony Cozier describe how Marshall, Holding, Roberts and Davis were feeding on Indian incompetence against fast, short-pitched bowling. Amarnath and to a lesser extent Gavaskar, managed to salvage some pride for India in that series.
India won the world cup final shortly afterward, but what followed thereafter in India was nothing short of carnage. Marshall was at his prime and even the dead Indian wickets did not prevent him (or for that matter 'Rolls-Royce' Holding or Andy Roberts) from slicing through the Indian batting line up time and again. Crushing defeats in India, Ahmedabad and Kolkata followed and one-dayers were a no-contest. The opening duo of Greenidge and Haynes, followed by an imposing batting line up of Gomes, Richards, Lloyd, Logie, Dujon was just too much for Indian bowling although Kapil, Madan Lal, Binny, Shivlal Yadav and Maninder Singh did put in their best. Post-Lloyd, Richards' team had the same battery of fast bowlers with Patterson, Bishop, Walsh and Ambrose joining the club. Their team played with an air of resignation, that their batsmen will tear into the opposition, set up imposing scores in quick time and then their bowlers would clean up the opposition twice. With almost boring regularity, they continued to dominate and whitewash opponent teams.
Since then, they've of course had a smattering of class players - Lara was regal right through his career. I absolutely adored the batting of Carl Hooper although statistics don't bear out how good he was. But they've been so few and so far between that quite a few of them seemed to be there to merely make up the numbers. One hated to see Sherwin Campbell at the crease.
Wonder how they allowed Caribbean cricket to deteriorate in the manner it has. It would have been quite hard for youngsters then not to have idolised their own stars and not raised their own standards and followed cricket as a religion. True, soccer and basketball may have caught their fancy for the west indians are naturally athletic, but to have altogether dropped their standards in the manner they have, is really hard to digest. Now, barring Fidel Edwards to a certain degree, they don't have a fast bowler worth mentioning and barring Darren Bravo, there seems to be no sign of class in their batting line up. Add to that, Gayle who has the charisma to get the crowd going anywhere in the world is at loggerheads with the governing body for cricket there and there seems to be no end to misery.
It's high time they brought in some outside-in talent to resurrect cricket. What rock is to music, calypso style is to cricket. Usher in the rhythm !
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