With every day they remain in South Africa, West Indies' chances of pulling together a respectable World Cup challenge falters before our eyes. They made only 122 at Buffalo Park in the third ODI, a spiritless and, at times, irresponsible, display full of ghastly, ill-judged shots and glum expressions. A nine-wicket defeat later revealed itself much as expected.

Three days earlier, the crowd in Johannesburg had feasted on an AB de Villiers world record; in what was only Buffalo Park's third ODI in nine years, the townsfolk of East London had to suffer a mismatch, concluded in spots of drizzle. Truly, the big cities get all the fun.

East London took their pleasure in Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis, lording it over the West Indies attack for unbeaten half centuries as the match was wrapped up with more than 41 overs unused, not so long after some had come in from work.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

The pertinent questions remains unanswered :

WHY IS IT THAT OUR PLAYERS

ARE NOT COMPETITIVE IN THE

INTERNATIONAL CRICKET ARENA ?????



WHAT ARE THE BEST SOLUTIONS

TO MAKE OUR PLAYERS & TEAM

THE BEST IN THE WORLD ????



In this Forum , on many occasions I have
put forward what I believe , are the best
solutions to solve our Players & Team deficiencies in Cricket . I do not intend
changing them .

ALL I am asking is that you state here what
are your solutions . I know that the Lackeys of the WICB will come here & be critical , but that is because they are devoid of ideas .

This why they perpetually
say " WE AINT HAVE NO MONEY " . My response
has always been , who or what is preventing
those in the governance of Cricket in the Region , from seeking Sponsors .

In reply to POINT

I do understand your concern, but to rebuild WI cricket we need players with totally different mindset and vision. We have talent but players are not willing to put in the hard work to be consistent in the longer form of the game (including ODIs). Most of our current players lack the determination, pride and commitment to WI cricket and that's why many of them are failing at this level. Most of the current players goal is to gain favor in the lucrative T20 market and service to WI cricket is secondary.

While I do understand the need to tap into this lucrative T20 market to gain quick money - the WI fans deserve much better. Despite the poor leadership of WICB and all the problems we are having, WI players are far from the worse paying cricketers - so I think we deserve much better from them. There got to be some balance. For example - as the records shows, Gayle who is the king of T20 has not scored an ODI century in 14 games since June 2013. To make it worse he only has one fifty during this time. In summary we need players that are committed, mentally strong and proud to be a WI cricketer. This is going to be very hard to find!!

In reply to ashnal

YOU HAVE STARTED OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT .

FISH NEVER ROTS FROM THE TAIL UP ;

BUT FROM THE HEAD DOWN .

This means that WE MUST start with a total
restructuring of Cricket in the Region .
On various occasions , I have stated in this Forum that our Players are not empowered to
set schedules ; the number of matches played at the Regional ; and the duration
of the Camps .

Let me ask you to look at the stats of the Players on the South African Team in all formats of the game & compare them to the stats of our Players . The Disparity is
very stark .

The gist of what I am saying is that to harness ; enhance & hone the talents of our Players in all aspects of the game ; they must play more matches at the Regional level .There is no other way ;or shortcut
to make them fully competitive .

I cite this because many people are heaping criticisms on our Players before indulging
in a careful search as to why our Players are performing poorly . The answer is that

THEY ARE NOT PLAYING ENOUGH CRICKET IN

THE VARIOUS VERSIONS OF THE GAME ; TO

BE FULLY COMPETITIVE IN THE INTERNATIONAL

CRICKET ARENA . NOW THAT AINT THEIR FAULT .

BUT EVERYONE SEEM OBLIVIOUS OF THE FACT

THAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WICB .


The fact is that the skills that are necessary to be fully competitive , ESPECIALLY in the longer versions of the game can only be acquired by playing a lot
of cricket at the REGIONAL LEVEL .

Now if our Players do not get to play a lot of matches at the Regional level ; that is
not their fault , but they are being heavily criticized .

My take is that the criticism that is directed towards them should be directed to
to those in the governance of Cricket in the Region .

In reply to ashnal

The West Indies fans réserve much better? Thèse players are servants?

Hi guys.
What about if we lend you some of our provincial players to help boost your squad ?

In reply to POINT

I totally agree with your statement and the WICB over the years have failed WI cricket which I have already stated. But most of our senior players will not even make themselves available for the regional tournaments due to playing overseas; and they are still failing at the international level. YES!! WI cricket desperately needs overall at the highest level, with much better infrastructure and improving the quality and quantity of our local games. Even if this is done, the mindset of future players needs to be changed - if not, we will still be in the same place years to come.

In reply to ashnal

My take is that the lifespan of Sports Men
& Sports Women is comparatively short .
They can be subjected to injuries that can
incapacitate them for life .

I therefore have no problem with Players
earning as much as they can when they can
do that . Players as far as I am aware do
not get Retirement Salaries .

This thing about Players MUST play in the
Regional Tournaments is a freaking Red Herring . I have no doubt that the standard
of Cricket where they play is a hell of a lot higher than the standard in the Region .
My view is that their performances Overseas
should be the criteria to assess whether
they should represent our International
Team or not do so .

This whole issue is a way in which those in the governance of Cricket in the Region , can massage their super inflated Egos .I
want persons in this Forum to simply answer
one freaking question .

IS THE STANDARD OF CRICKET WHERE OUR

PLAYERS GO TO PLAY CRICKET HIGHER OR LOWER

THAN THE STANDARD IN THE REGION ????????


If the standard of Cricket in the Region was higher , then I would call for them to
make themselves available to play in the Regional Tournaments . The main purpose of
the Regional Tournaments apart from making
Players hone their skills is to select the best Players to represent the Region.

So why disqualify our Players who are playing
Overseas in matches where the standard is
higher than the standard in the Region .

BUT THAT AINT THE FREAKING CASE , THIS IN

MY OPINION IS NOTHING MORE THAN SHEER

SPITEFULNESS .

In reply to POINT

The problem is that when they are playing overseas they are playing ONLY T20 Cricket. This type of cricket CANNOT develop them to be good test or ODI players with a better understanding of how to play and appreciate this format of the game. Their current record run in the longer form of the game has proven this. Good example is Gayle, Pollard and Bravo. Since playing more T20 games, their average in the longer format has drastically drop. Gone are the days when we could send players to England during the summer. That program did benefit the players and WI cricket.

It is amusingly disturbing that even 50 overs cricket is too long for the current WI players. Personally I think WI team cricket has major problem, they need inspirational leadership to slow down the sinking ship.