Played 21, Won 5 Lost 16. That is this year’s 2022 record of One Day International (ODI) matches played by the West Indies team following its 1-2 loss to New Zealand in the Barbados-hosted August 17-21 three-match series. A record made even more dismal by the actuality of no less than four of those five wins having been against Ireland (1) and the Netherlands (3), two teams well below the West Indies on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) ODI rankings. The recent August 17 first ODI victory over New Zealand was the West Indies’ only win against a top-five ICC-ranked team this year.

The eventual 1-2 series loss against the Kiwis has now left the West Indies sitting seventh with 88 points on the ICC’s Super League standings to determine automatic qualifications for next year’s ICC ODI World Cup and with no more matches available to be played. Only the top seven teams, plus India as tournament hosts, will secure automatic qualification berths for the World Cup. Australia (70 points), Sri Lanka (62 points) and South Africa (49 points) are, however, among the six teams currently placed below the West Indies. All three of those with sufficient available matches in hand to more than likely accumulate the additional points (10 per win) that will allow each to easily move past the West Indies in the standings by the time the Super League reaches its conclusion.

When and if it happens, the West Indies’ failure to secure automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup will be yet another colossal embarrassment for the two-time former champions. The West Indies, of course, won both the 1975 and 1979 first and second editions of the ICC ODI World Cup. They were also the unexpected losing finalists to India in the third which was played in 1983. Failure to secure 2023 automatic qualification will add further to the embarrassment the West Indies has already suffered from having likewise failed to do so for this year’s ICC T20 World Cup, a tournament for which they are also two-time former champions.

Read more at Barbados Today

i wonder if any other cricketing nation in the world continually looks back at past glories as WI does? Sport is a matter of the moment, not the past.

In reply to VoopsandOut

A fair question. Does Sri Lanka compare everything to their '96 World Cup side? Conversely does South Africa take everything in context of their reputation as tournament 'chokers'?

That said WI of today needs to think of their men's teams as their own entity. The cricket landscape is way different than it was in 1983.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Bring in Stuart Law....he was coach last time West Indies played qualifiers..... knows these players well... keeping Simmons, be assured we not playing 2023 World Cup...

Do to him what they did to the other coach - fire him just before a WC. In this case it would be fully justified.

I am not a fan of Coach Phil Simmons but at the same time our problem goes beyond coaching. First, we don’t play enough cricket. In most of the region we don’t see enough club cricket. We need to get our young boys to love cricket again. As far as a now solution making Pooran white ball captain was a bad decision. Powell or Holder would have been a better choice. Then we have poor team selection. Sir Desmond Haynes would serve us better in an on field role than chief selector. His policy of performance rather than talent is bad for our game.