THE shame and embarrassment continue. The West Indies cricket team has been trounced by South Africa in a two-Test series which came to its conclusion last week.
It is not only the annihilation of the team that is a disgrace, but the non-performance of its batsmen that actually brings that sense of shame and ignominy to Caribbean people.
One cannot help but be reminded of the five-nil defeat suffered on the 1998/99 tour of that country when Brian Lara was captain.
It was the first time that WI, in their proud history, had ever suffered such a hiding.
There were many reasons for it, but the view that I’ve always held was the fact that the players thought they were greater than the game.
Hence there was no solid preparation before the tour, as that time was spent in a hotel room in London arguing for better wages. But that’s another story.
This time, there wasn’t a wages issue, however: more of a consequence of the cricket administration.
After I noticed certain decisions being made, I concluded that those responsible for WI cricket have no knowledge of the game of cricket, and therefore are not capable of making the right decisions to build the game and move it forward in the WI.
Doing some research, I came upon the WI tour to England in 2000. I read through the late Tony Cozier’s excellent review of the tour, plus some English writers’ summaries of the five Test matches.
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