The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
With a day to cool off after the mockery that was the first Test against Australia, those who write about West Indies cricket have come out today with an outlook that is somewhat calmer and focussed on the days ahead.
On Wisden Cricinfo, Peter English writes that Corey Collymore is demanding a better performance from his fast-bowling colleagues throughout the remainder of the series.
The West Indies went into the first Test with their tails in the air. A solid all-round game against Queensland raised hopes that this team could at least be competitive against the mighty Aussies.
But, alas, it was all for naught. With minor exceptions, the batting crumbled, the bowling was listless and the allround out-cricket was beyond disappointing. In addition, some mind-boggling decisions on team selection and what to do after winning the toss led to low grades all around...
Sunday's loss to Australia by the second highest margin in the history of 100 matches between the two marked a new low in West Indies cricket, and media houses around the world are chomping at the bit to explain why it happened, how it was allowed to happen, and/or what will happen next.
As Australian newspapers and web sites splash about headlines like "Windies in Danger of Irrelevance" back in the West Indies, they are somewhat less dramatic, probably through resignation, but not so much to give the news nominal space alongside other cricket news.
The election of T&T businessman Ken Gordon as president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in mid-year gave many of us hope that at the very least we could look to a more no-nonsense approach to doing business from regional cricket administrators.
Alas! The last minute decision to scramble plans for the Carib Beer four-day regional tournament and slash it in half, doing away with the home and away format, has left us with no choice, but to have second thoughts.
The ICC/FICA negotiations to help unravel a solution to the WICB/WIPA "Clause 5" stalemate has begun and is being handled at highest levels of the two international organizations.
CaribbeanCricket.com has learnt that ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed is leading the team for the world's governing body for cricket while FICA president Tim May is sitting at the other side of the table.