West Indies cricket is in a mess. That statement has popped up with regularity over the years and it comes as no surprise that we are facing a similar situation with a month to go for the World Cup.
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The breakdown in relations between the West Indies players and their cricket board resulted in the players abandoning their tour of India midway. Not only are the Windies board facing a huge financial crisis with their Indian counterparts demanding compensation, their image has taken a huge hit. It therefore didn’t come as a surprise when the player at the forefront of the protest over wages – Dwayne Bravo – was stripped of his captaincy and excluded from the squad for the ODIs against South Africa.
Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy were part of the original World Cup squad but found themselves out of the mix for the South Africa ODIs at the time.
Now it seems both Bravo and Pollard will not be a part of the final World Cup squad, with Sammy already reinstated following a U-turn by the board.
If Pollard is indeed on his way out, there can be some justification for it. The big-hitting Trinidadian has failed to bring his T20 prowess in ODIs, scoring just 322 runs from 17 games at 21.46 in 2013 and 173 from six games last year.
Those stats are indeed poor and his bowling isn’t the best in the world either.
But it’s the case of Bravo which is staggering. Last year, he amassed 415 runs from 13 games at an average of 46.11 and also took 20 wickets at an economy of 5.55. For one-dayers those are excellent results, especially since he was the captain as well.
For the West Indies board to contemplate keeping such an outstanding all-rounder out of the side, leave alone taking away his captaincy, is a tragedy.
All Bravo did was fight for the rights of the West Indies and take a stand when he felt the players had been cornered. Leaving a series midway was not the smartest of moves but at least it got the attention of those who matter.
If Bravo does miss the World Cup, as it seems at the moment, it will be a massive setback for West Indies. There is every chance that players like Bravo and Pollard will retire from international cricket and become freelance players, taking their talents to the various T20 leagues across the world and stop dealing with the West Indies board.
In between all this, it’s the team that will end up losing the most.
Their chances at the World Cup, which were slim to start with, will simply evaporate with players clueless about the way forward. And the West Indies board will have to take responsibility for allowing things to reach such a stage.
