Windies cricket woes

The present form of the West Indian team is in stark contrast to the illustrious teams between 1976 and 1996 which had great captains, batsmen and bowlers all with one thing in common - a passion not motivated by greed or fame but more by pride in themselves, their country and a desire to perform at the highest levels.  The present situation is exacerbated by a Cricket Board that appears to have few ideas and but a heavy-handed and uncompromising attitude.    
I have always failed to understand why the likes of Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Gordon Greenidge, Joel Garner, and Clive Llyod, who was arguably the best Windies captain ever, have not been give a free rein to band together and re-build the team?   I cannot believe that any one of these great cricketers would not wish to contribute and one only has to watch 'Fire in Babylon' to see the passion and pride they had.  Why are they not involved more in the administration and training of the team?   They could certainly do no worse than the present board.

Much is made of the disunity between the islands which appears to bleed into the team itself but I cannot accept this given the acheivements of the team in its heyday so what is it?  Corruption within the board? Lack of fire in the players? Laziness?  What?

Windies are just about the worst team at present, marginally better than Bangladesh, and unless something is done and soon I fear that all we supporters will be left with is the history of a once great team

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Jayszen Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Trialist Joined: 11 June 2011 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jayszen Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Windies cricket woes Posted: 11 June 2011 at 10:10am
	The present form of the West Indian team is in stark contrast to the illustrious teams between 1976 and 1996 which had great captains, batsmen and bowlers all with one thing in common - a passion not motivated by greed or fame but more by pride in themselves, their country and a desire to perform at the highest levels. The present situation is exacerbated by a Cricket Board that appears to have few ideas and but a heavy-handed and uncompromising attitude. I have always failed to understand why the likes of Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Gordon Greenidge, Joel Garner, and Clive Llyod, who was arguably the best Windies captain ever, have not been give a free rein to band together and re-build the team? I cannot believe that any one of these great cricketers would not wish to contribute and one only has to watch 'Fire in Babylon' to see the passion and pride they had. Why are they not involved more in the administration and training of the team? They could certainly do no worse than the present board. Much is made of the disunity between the islands which appears to bleed into the team itself but I cannot accept this given the acheivements of the team in its heyday so what is it? Corruption within the board? Lack of fire in the players? Laziness? What? Windies are just about the worst team at present, marginally better than Bangladesh, and unless something is done and soon I fear that all we supporters will be left with is the history of a once great team

Sledger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Captain Dickenson can marry my mother-in-law ! Joined: 08 August 2005 Location: South Africa Online Status: Offline Posts: 15694	Post Options Post Reply Quote Sledger Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 13 June 2011 at 6:38am
	Certainly the squabbling in the background amongst both the management and the players is not helping Windies cricket at all. The whole setup strikes me as amatuerish in the extreme and whilst that might have been okay in the 60's and even through to the 80's , it leaves them with a huge disadvantage in the game today. Remember , the great sides on the 70's and 80's still had to deal with officialdom which , at best was flakey , at worst shambolic. That they came through was because the players had pride and not a little skill ! The current players seem driven only by money - simply put , they're unprofessional - they have some fine players , but their attitude leaves a lot to be desired.
	Mental disintegration works for me !!

spin wizard Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Opening Bowler The world�s next great spinner Joined: 21 January 2006 Location: Saint Vincent Online Status: Offline Posts: 9453	Post Options Post Reply Quote spin wizard Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 13 June 2011 at 4:03pm
	The lack of performance has nothing to do with lack of unity between the islands. Trust me on this, the West Indies can have the most superb board but we will still be losing. Just come to the west indies and check out who people practice, what times they show up for games, their lifestyles etc and then you will know the perfect reason why our cricketers are absolutely shambollically crappy players!!
	In troubled times, being philosophical helps a great deal, it helps you to remain sane and not do any further damage.

sam_ahmed Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Middle-Order Batsman Joined: 27 November 2007 Location: India Online Status: Offline Posts: 4363	Post Options Post Reply Quote sam_ahmed Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 13 June 2011 at 5:31pm
	I cannot agree with Spinny here that players are crappy, I think there is enough talent and skill in there but I absolutely agree with Jayszen and Sledger that the passion simply isn't quite there and the players are driven by money more than anything else. Having said that the WICB has been quite a pathetic organization, they are OK with Dwayne Bravo asking for a break after just 2 games, they are OK with Pollard preferring to play for clubs over country every time but they are not OK with Chris Gayle giving some interview on some radio channel and that becomes the reason for his ouster. Gayle can single handedly win games for the west indies and the board needs to understand that such a players deserves more respect and deserves to be treated better.
	God is a better planner... so whenever u'r plan fails, cheer up... God has a better plan for you!

spin wizard Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Opening Bowler The world�s next great spinner Joined: 21 January 2006 Location: Saint Vincent Online Status: Offline Posts: 9453	Post Options Post Reply Quote spin wizard Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 June 2011 at 1:42pm
	What I said is true Sam but maybe you have interpreted it differently to what I have meant but basically I'm saying the guys don't have the hunger and drive to succeed at the game!
	In troubled times, being philosophical helps a great deal, it helps you to remain sane and not do any further damage.

sam_ahmed Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Middle-Order Batsman Joined: 27 November 2007 Location: India Online Status: Offline Posts: 4363	Post Options Post Reply Quote sam_ahmed Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 17 June 2011 at 5:41pm
	ever since this thread was started West Indies have started winning!
	God is a better planner... so whenever u'r plan fails, cheer up... God has a better plan for you!