The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Back home, joy and misgivings

Tue, Apr 5, '16

by TONY COZIER

Commentary

The West Indies teams' performances on Sunday brought the Caribbean to life, but also raised old questions with no easy answers.

In the space of six extraordinary hours at Kolkata's iconic Eden Gardens on Sunday, West Indies cricket, for so long in a state of a seemingly incurable, self-induced ailment, was resurrected by the unprecedented victories of their women's and men's teams in the World T20 championship finals.

Six weeks earlier, the unfancied Under-19s had triumphed over India in their 50-over World Cup in Bangladesh. It was a hat-trick that further stimulated the renewed pride of a passionate public in the game that made the widely scattered mini-states in the Caribbean renowned for their style of play and their excellence.

It was a pride that rapidly diminished as West Indies plummeted from their once mighty place at the top of the world to the depth of the ICC rankings in Tests and one-day internationals.

The newest, shortest format was ideally suited to their way. They were champions in 2012 in Colombo; for the women who ended the mighty Australians' sequence of four championships, it was uncharted territory.

Whether West Indies can now use this momentum to raise their standard in the longer versions is open to question. Tests are marathons, T20s 100-metre dashes. ODIs are the middle distance events.