The West Indies men's cricket team is currently facing hardships. The main talking point, it could be argued, is the state of their performances on the field. From my vantage point, it has been below par. No offence to any fans who are reading this but the team is a shadow of the great teams of the 1970s - 1990s. Another contributing factor is the financial aspect.
West Indies captain, Roston Chase, on Saturday bemoaned Caribbean cricket's finances and poor infrastructure following a crushing defeat to India in the first test. The visitors went down by an innings and 140 runs inside three days in Ahmedabad after their batting flopped twice.
West Indies were bowled out for 162 and 146 on a pitch where the hosts made 448-5 declared including three centuries. It was another demoralising performance and result for the West Indies, who are a pale shadow of the team that once ruled world cricket.
"There is obviously a struggle in the Caribbean for finances, so whatever help we can get, if they are planning to get the help," Chase told reporters. "I hope that we do get it, so that we could strengthen the infrastructure for the cricket."
He added: "I think the systems in the Caribbean are a bit poor in terms of training facilities and stuff. But I'm not using that as an excuse or something to hide behind the poor performances that we've been putting up lately."
West Indies were swept 3-0 at home by Australia this year and were bowled out for 27 in the third match – the second-lowest score in test history. In another setback, their T20 team recently lost a three-match series to Nepal.
In the five-day format, West Indies batsmen have struggled to convert starts into bigger scores with Justin Greaves and Alick Athanaze scoring 32 and 38 in the first and second innings.
"The pitches in the Caribbean are not really batsman friendly, so guys don't really bat for long periods and score those big scores," Chase said. "The outfields in the Caribbean are really slow, so when you hit the ball in the gaps and you think you have four, you probably end up struggling to get two. Those are just some of the problems that we're faced with in the Caribbean."
Away in the Caribbean, Cricket West Indies has got the best minds in the game in the region to chalk out a way out of the abyss - call it 27 all out if you will - the national team has fallen in, at a time when there is talk of the World Test Championship being split into two tiers.
Roston Chase is aware of all this and is hoping for, "that start and to then kick on from there" when they face India for the second and last time in the ongoing series in Delhi.
"Obviously we are down right now but it has to change at some point, and the change can start from now," Chase said on Thursday, a day away from the start of the second Test, where West Indies would be hoping to bounce back after an innings defeat in the first Test. "But it starts with the belief and the mindset of each and every player, and just keep motivating the guys that we can still play some positive cricket."
Chase's own Test career has been an intriguing one. He has now played 53 Tests but has an average of 25.57 and a bowling average of 46.25. He scored a century in just his second Test, against India in Kingston in July 2016 and then had two more centuries by his tenth Test. In the 43 since, he has scored just two more and none at all in his last 24, where he has crossed 50 only four times.
"I can't really speak for anyone [else], but for myself, I just think it's a matter of confidence and continuously playing quality first-class cricket and so on. Just that know how and facing good attacks for longer periods and obviously, trying to improve on faults you may have picked up early on in your career," Chase said. "Obviously, when you first start, no one really knows you, and then, obviously, [you] play a couple of games and people see your weaknesses and try to exploit them. So it's for the players to just improve on those weaknesses from as early as possible. That's it."
"It's just digging deep for those four sessions and trying to stay in the now and not what has happened before in terms of the ball before or the over before. Just staying in the present is the biggest challenge for me right now. That's something I have to go with."
If West Indies harboured any hopes of causing a ripple on their two-Test tour of India, those hopes must have largely rested on their pace trio of Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph, who had taken 48 wickets at a combined average of 18.52 in their last Test series before this one; at home against Australia.
With both Josephs lost to injury before the series even began, it was no surprise that West Indies looked at no stage of the first Test to be on a level footing with India. They simply didn't have the bowling to compete with a deep, incisive and varied India attack.
Even so, should West Indies really have been bowled out for 162 and 146 on that Ahmedabad pitch? It had an unusual amount of grass for an Indian pitch, but it was still one on which West Indies, winning the toss, chose to bat first, reckoning, probably correctly, that it was still enough of an Indian pitch to make batting fourth significantly harder than batting first.
The Test match, in the end, didn't need a fourth innings at all.
For fans of West Indies, there was a familiar ring to how the batting unravelled. Their totals of 162 and 146 were their 12th and 13th sub-200 totals in their last 15 Test innings. Neither of their innings in Ahmedabad lasted 50 overs - it was the ninth time this had happened in that 15-innings stretch. This also includes one innings that lasted exactly 50 overs. Not once in those 15 innings had West Indies batted out 90 overs - a full day of Test cricket.
Even when you throw in the mitigating factor of tricky batting conditions - both at home against Australia and Bangladesh and in the dustbowls of Multan, where they drew 1-1 with Pakistan - these are alarming numbers.
They point to a deeper issue in West Indies cricket, a long-running struggle to produce batters ready for Test cricket. Collectively, West Indies batters average 21.83 since the start of 2020. No batting team in Test cricket has done worse.
They have only scored 14 hundreds in 43 Tests, during which their batters have played a combined 867 innings. Their batters have scored centuries, in short, at a rate of approximately one every 62 innings. That rate is also, by far, the worst of any Test team in this decade.
How often batters score centuries is a good indicator of a team's batting health. If a batter scores hundreds frequently over a five-year period, it means they have the technique, the physical and mental endurance, the awareness of their own game, the strengths and weaknesses of the bowlers they are up against, and the adaptability to bat for long periods in different conditions while keeping the scorecard moving.
If you have two or three batters like that, your line-up can keep bowling attacks on the field for longer and test their wicket-taking depth and stamina. Your own bowlers tend to get more rest between innings as well as the chance to bowl on pitches that have undergone more wear and tear.
Some of the attributes that go into making batters frequent scorers of centuries are innate or developed at an early stage. Many others, however, come with experience: this is why so many batters take time to replicate their Under-19 run-scoring feats in first-class cricket; where they find themselves facing bowlers who won't give them a boundary ball every second over; who suss out their strengths and weaknesses quickly and who make sure to bowl and set fields accordingly.
The batters' scoring rate might drop and this might yield errors either from taking risks to manufacture runs or from lacking the physical and mental endurance to bat time and let runs come at their pace.
Over time, good young batters learn from these experiences, and learn to construct long innings.
Good, balanced pitches that reward skilful, hard-working batters and bowlers play an important role in this. They make sure batters have to develop a good defence to score runs, but they also allow batters to trust their defence. And they allow batters to repeat good processes and turn them into habits.
West Indies' alarming lack of Test centuries over recent years points to a lot of issues, and first-class pitches are one of them. Roston Chase pointed this out in his post-match press conference in Ahmedabad.
"Yeah, that is [one] of the infrastructure problems that we do have," he said. "The pitches in the Caribbean are not really batsman-friendly. So guys don't really bat for long periods and score those big scores. And then, too, the outfields in the Caribbean are really slow. When you hit the ball in the gaps, you probably end up struggling to get two.
"Those are just some of the problems that we are faced with in the Caribbean. That's why you see guys averaging so low."
Only one member of West Indies' squad in India - Kevlon Anderson, who has only played one Test, and did not play in Ahmedabad - has a 40-plus first-class average. The squad is a reflection of West Indies' domestic cricket: since its post-pandemic return in 2022, only five of the top ten run-getters in CWI's Regional Four-Day Tournament average over 40 and only one of them - Kraigg Brathwaite, recently dropped after playing 100 Tests - over 50.
Compare that to the Ranji Trophy, India's main domestic first-class tournament. Since that tournament's post-pandemic resumption, also in 2022, none of the top ten run-getters average below 40. Only four of them, in fact, average below 50.
This doesn't mean that the best Indian domestic bowlers are struggling to take wickets. The top ten wicket-takers in the Regional Four-Day Tournament in this period average between 18.80 and 25.01 and the top ten Ranji Trophy wicket-takers between 18.22 and 24.06. Barely any difference.
This suggests that while there might be a pitches-and-outfields issue in West Indian first-class cricket, there probably is a batting-quality issue too. The names lost to red-ball cricket are far too many to list.
In the universe we inhabit, West Indies have no choice but to make do with what they have available to them and in his limited time in charge of the Test team, their head coach, Daren Sammy, has made an effort to broaden this pool. He has brought into or back to Test cricket players who've enjoyed white-ball success for West Indies, such as Chase - he returned as captain after more than two years out of the Test side - Shai Hope, John Campbell, Brandon King and Keacy Carty.
In a press conference before this India tour, Sammy revealed he had even tried to sound out Sherfane Rutherford - the last of whose 17 first-class matches came all the way back in 2019 - to see if he might make himself available for this Test assignment.
These are signs, perhaps, that Sammy is trying to approach Test-match selection like England do, placing attributes above first-class records and looking for batters with attacking styles of play. It's a sound idea in theory, given just how much attacking talent West Indies cricket is blessed with.
Try translating it into an actual Test-match line-up. Sammy must face an unimaginably difficult task to get anyone with any stake in the T20 circuit to commit to the Test team for any length of time given all the franchise cricket going on all around the world and all through the year.
In the end, there's only so much a coach and a group of players can do when they're up against the skewed economics of a sport determined to maintain a dangerous status quo. West Indies' Test-match batting is a problem, but like so much else in West Indies cricket, it's a symptom of far deeper issues that extend far beyond that region.
Strained finances, infrastructural issues, the skewed economics of world cricket, the pressures of franchise cricket, and the effect of all these things on the talent pipeline that leads from the grassroots to the West Indies Test team. Last week's innings defeat to India in Ahmedabad brought all these topics back into the spotlight.
Various voices have called for financial support to help West Indies cricket address these issues. It has led others, in turn, to question why the ICC and other boards must step in to help. Daren Sammy has a simple answer: West Indies helped the game grow immensely when they dominated world cricket from the 1970s to the 1990s but did not reap the financial rewards for it in the way that India, for example, have done over recent decades when the game has become far more lucrative.
"Look, [it's] the history we bring, or the history we have, and the legacy we have left on this game in all formats," Sammy said, when posed this question two days out from the second Test in Delhi. "Obviously the way we play now, everybody will lean towards that. But if we take that aside, and understand the impact that the West Indies team have had in international cricket, I think all what we ask for, we deserve."
"You know you speak to so many other teams. The inspiration that Vivian Richards' team had, or the impact it had, even here in India, the impact these guys had on the next generation, West Indies contributed to that. I remember watching [West Indies playing] five Test-match series [around the world]. It's like India now. Everybody wants India to tour, because that's where the financial gains are. India brings that to the home territory. That was West Indies in the past.
"But we did not reap those financial rewards. We were playing five Test matches, three-four months in one place, entertaining the world, where other parts benefited. So for now, when we, over the years, whether it be through lack of management, whatever it is, we are in need of those financial resources to help us grow and move forward, I think we deserve that. Because of the impact we've had."
In the present moment, Sammy is aware he can only work with what is available to him in terms of the talent that's ready to play Test cricket for the West Indies and the facilities they presently have. He knows it's unlikely that young players in the Caribbean will react to being picked for the West Indies team as he did back in 2004 when he learned of his selection to the ODI team when he was in the UK playing for an MCC Young Cricketers team.
Sammy feels there's one area in which West Indies can and should still match other teams in: working hard and smart on their preparation.
"For me as a coach, when I call a player and I tell him that he has been selected for West Indies and I'm hoping that he accepts the selection, that tells us where our cricket is," he said. "As a kid, I remember in 2004, me being at Lord's, MCC Young Cricketers and getting a call. Once I saw the area code 1268, I knew it was from Antigua, I was hoping it was a call from the West Indies Cricket Board and how excited I was."
"Times have changed. We [can] only work with what we have and who's willing. And the inability to match some of the franchises across the world [financially], it has been an issue. But what I always tell these guys [is], if we complain about not having the best facilities, not having enough manpower like the other teams, not having the best technology, all these things which the other teams are superior to us [in], then why the hell are they still outworking us? The only way we could match up [and] compete at a consistent level is if we as the coaches and the players are prepared to outwork the opposition, and we're not doing that."
"When I look at the job I had, I saw Australia in the Caribbean, India in India, and New Zealand in New Zealand. I knew it will be probably the three most challenging series that we'll have"
"So that's where I've actually challenged them. When you practise, when you train, when you strategise, to be more precise, more purposeful. And I must say, again today, I've seen them starting to understand what we're trying to do."
When Sammy, who had previously only been West Indies' white-ball head coach, took over the Test team in April, the next three series they had lined up were against Australia at home, India away and New Zealand away; all immensely challenging assignments. It has put in sharp focus the difficulty he has had as a coach in trying to establish a process-driven approach in the backdrop of constant external pressure stemming from results.
"When I took on this Test job, I wanted to change the way we played, the results that we have," Sammy said. "What we did was look at, especially from the batsmen, look at our most consistent batters in international cricket, whether it be T20, whether it be ODIs, whether it be Test matches, and put it together and see how best we could get a batting group. And that's what we've done. It's been, I think this will be the fifth Test match with that regime, and it's not worked."
"Mind you, when I look at the job I had, I saw Australia in the Caribbean, India in India and New Zealand in New Zealand. I knew it was going to be very difficult. It will be probably the three most challenging series that we'll have, whether it be home or away."
"And I understand what we try to build. The director of cricket, the vision that we have, and also the players that we want to play. So I take all that into consideration. But what we cannot have, like I said is, against all the odds, the opposition is still outworking us. And that's the biggest issue for me."
"You don't need talent to work hard. You don't need talent to be motivated. It's not a skill. The skill you need is to go and play. But the mindset. That's what it takes. And I'm trying to continue to instil that in the guys."
"Hopefully the guys who've gotten the opportunities [will start performing]. If it doesn't work, obviously I've got to go back and see what's there in the Caribbean. But again for me, dealing with all of that is just trusting the process. And don't look at the result before the process has been executed."
West Indies' long-running issues in Test cricket at a time when they have continually produced top-tier T20 talent, Sammy felt, had contributed to something like a self-perpetuating cycle of talent production in the Caribbean.
"Growing up, we had heroes," Sammy said. "[Brian] Lara, Sir Viv, [Curtly] Ambrose, [Courtney] Walsh, [Richie] Richardson. We had so many different heroes. Ian Bishop. So many, that me watching cricket with my father, I would say, 'Oh, I want to be like this guy.'"
"There's a challenge here now. I always challenge the guys [in the team], which kid in the Caribbean is watching you, and you are inspiring? If you notice, we've been, over the last decade, the format where the heroes come from has been the T20 format. And that's why you see some of the direction in which the younger players are heading. That's where the heroes are. That's where they see people they want to be like from the Caribbean.
"I mean, the last time we won a series here in India, I was just born. My mom had just had me, in 1983. So the troubles that we have didn't start now"
"So it's hard, but we will not stop trying, because winning builds and shows that it could be done, and we've not been able to do that for a long time."
The problems in West Indies cricket are so deep-rooted and have taken root over so many years, Sammy felt, that he turned to a distressing metaphor for it: cancer.
"I mean, the last time we won a series here in India, I was just born. My mom had just had me, in 1983. So the troubles that we have didn't start now. In 1983, some great players were playing. So I know now I'm under the microscope, I'm in the middle, and we're open to being criticised by everybody. But the root of the problem didn't start two years ago. Something way back."
"It's like a cancer that's already in the system. And you know, if you don't beat cancer, you know what happens. And again, I think it's Breast Cancer [Awareness] Month, so it's a good way to put it, that our problems don't lie on the surface. It's rooted deep into our system. And that is something we will continue to change. The immediate thing is, try and encourage the guys, train better, better mindset and all these things. And hopefully steps could be taken in the right direction."
As West Indies cricket continues to grapple with declining Test performances and the rising lure of franchise leagues, legendary batter, Brian Lara, has delivered a strong yet passionate call for introspection. Speaking to the media during the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai, Lara acknowledged the financial challenges facing the sport in the Caribbean — but pushed back against the idea that limited infrastructure and resources should be accepted as excuses for poor commitment or subpar results.
"If you want to get things done, you have to have the capital to do it. So that is a major part," Lara admitted, referencing the financial hurdles that have dogged the region’s cricket development.
At the same time, however, he made it clear that accountability lies with the players themselves. "But at the same time, I would like to ask Roston Chase and the other guys to… do they have the cricket at heart? Do they really want to play for West Indies? And that is the most important thing because you would find a way."
Lara reflected on the era of past greats to underscore how West Indies legends succeeded despite similar limitations.
"I mean we did not have better facilities 30–40 years ago. Viv Richards didn’t bat on any better practice pitches or anything. We had to do the same thing, the same grind; but the passion was different. The passion to play for West Indies was different," he said.
"So I urge the young players to realise that this is a wonderful opportunity. And I am almost sure that every single one of their parents would have had in the back of their mind, their son playing for the West Indies, their son doing well for the West Indies because it meant a lot back in those days," Lara added.
While he agreed that finances are a serious concern, Lara stressed that they can't replace national pride. "So I agree with [Chase on West Indies’ struggles for finances], but I still believe there is an onus on each young player to create that love and desire to play for West Indies."
Recognising the rise of franchise cricket as a competing force, Lara said it’s understandable why players chase higher earnings elsewhere.
"I can’t blame any single player for wanting to pursue cricket as a career outside of the West Indies — because the disparity in what’s happening, playing five or six franchise leagues, compared to playing for the West Indies, is different [in monetary terms]," he said.
Still, he argued that Cricket West Indies (CWI) must find solutions at home. "And you have to have empathy with that player. But you also have to feel that what can we do at home to make sure that that player, or future players, understand that playing for the West Indies is also very important."
Pointing to the global calendar and IPL’s dominance, he observed, "The IPL has carved out a period of time where it’s exclusive to the IPL. But there’s six or seven different leagues that’s popping up around the world, and everybody’s wanting to do it."
"So I think the onus is on Cricket West Indies to find a way to create, unify the efforts of the young players who want to go out, but also have them playing for us," Lara said.
He was emphatic about the importance of competing in marquee series: "And a series against India, we want to play good cricket against the best team in the world. So you want your best players out there. You don’t want your best players in America or somewhere else around the world."
To illustrate that playing abroad and national pride can co-exist, Lara drew parallels with international football.
"I mean if you look at Argentina, Messi grew up in Europe, but he plays for Argentina. But he played for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and he was allowed [to play],” he said. “And there’s a lot more South American footballers that do that, and eventually go back and play for their country, and have the pride to do so."
He pointed out how cricket powerhouses have managed to strike this balance: "Australia is able to do it. England is able to do it, to keep their players loyal to their country. So we have to find a way to do that and there’s no pointing any fingers at anybody."
Instead, Lara called for collaboration. "It’s just that we’ve got to come together as a team, as administrators, as coaches, as players. And really and truly if you have West Indies cricket at heart, you will find a way to move forward."
Beyond West Indies’ internal struggles, Lara also addressed the broader decline in Test match engagement, particularly outside the Big Three (India; Australia and England).
"When you look at the Big Three, you look at England versus Australia in the Ashes, or just recently, India playing in Australia (or) India playing in England, and you would think that there is no greater day of cricket to watch," he said.
"I’ve watched India versus England at Lord’s and there is nothing to compare it to. I hope that Test cricket does not die, but the viability of it in other nations, the smaller nations, the nations with the inability to bring huge crowds to the game or bring big sponsors to the game, you’re really and truly testing their funds."
While Lara acknowledged this grim reality, he made it clear he wasn’t giving up. "I would rather like to find a solution to the problem than to say, ‘I give up and that’s the end of it’."
“The interest (in Tests in the West Indies) is low. If you’re not doing well as a nation and if something else is popping up that’s more exciting, you can see it in the crowds,” he explained.
His concern wasn’t limited to the Caribbean: “Not just in the West Indies, we just saw a Test match in Ahmedabad where literally there is no one at the Test match. It is waning; it is a situation. I appreciate the fact that my 17 years were spent playing majorly Test cricket and I would never give that up.”
Referencing the emergency CWI meeting held after West Indies were bowled out for just 27 — their lowest Test score — Lara said the root problems run far deeper.
“We discussed the state of West Indies cricket. The aberration of scoring 27 — nobody wants to do that. But that was not just the issue,” he said.
"The issue lies very deep, and it’s something that I would say (that the) Cricket West Indies is working on in terms of finding a better footing in terms of the foundation of the game, how we grow the game, the facilities that we have to improve on, and finding a way for cricketers to be a lot more competitive."
The legendary left-hander also reflected on how the culture around coaching and development has changed: "It (finances) is a problem because if you want to do anything, where back in 15–16 years ago, volunteerism was a big thing. You can get things done. You can get coaches. I was coached at Harvard coaching clinic where nobody was paid."
For a long-term revival, Lara insisted on raising domestic standards and not rushing young players into the international arena.
"So I am hoping that I would like to see a stronger first-class performance before you get into the international scene," he said. "Back in my day, you had to break records. You sat and watched cricket for two years, 20 Test matches, carry the towel, carry the water before you finally got in. And during that period of time, you grew, you matured. And some mature faster than others.”"Lara’s message, grounded in both nostalgia and urgency, underscores the work ahead if West Indies cricket is to reclaim its former strength."
I find it depressing that a once dominating nation is struggling now. There's no telling what will happen next. It seems like they take one step forward and two steps back. I hope they recover quickly so that they will become a force to reckon with.
I'm sure that there's light at the end of the tunnel.