It’s been a while. In fact it’s been much too long. The West Indies are back from cricket’s wilderness and their triumphant return is music to the ears of true cricket lovers everywhere.
For a team which failed to win a match in the initial group stages of the ICC World T20s in Sri Lanka, they were great. For a team which managed to beat the hosts and lift the trophy without a significant contribution from Chris Gayle they were exceptional.
Gayle’s importance and influence cannot be overstated. The giant Jamaican sets the tone and leads the dance. On the odd occasion he misfires, as in the Final against Sri Lanka, two things usually happen. The Windies’ effectiveness as a unit shrinks, almost visibly, and it is also a cue for major celebration on the part of the bowling side.
The men from the Caribbean, however, are more than merely a one trick pony. First Marlon Samuels took up the fight with the bat to give the West Indies’ total an air of respectability. His belligerent half century presented his team-mates with something to defend.
Then the bowlers turned the game on its head. Sri Lanka’s batsmen are among world leaders when it comes to playing spin but almost perversely they simply couldn’t handle the artistry of Samuels, Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree or, indeed, the pressure of the occasion itself.
From a winning position the capitulation was painful to witness. So distraught was Mahela Jayawardene that he relinquished the Sri Lanka captaincy soon after Narine hammered the final nail in the coffin. International cricket will be the poorer without his stylish stroke play, still evident even in the hit-out-or- get-out world of Twenty20.
The West Indies succeed England who were doomed to failure before a ball was bowled. The controversial decision to omit the divisive but highly effective Kevin Pietersen blew up spectacularly in the selectors’ faces. Too many inexperienced players were ill equipped to defend the trophy. Don’t send a boy to do a man’s job as they say, and don’t leave your best player behind.
The best player at the World T20s went away empty handed. Shane Watson carried Australia on his back all the way to the semi finals with a series of Man of the Match performances. Rightly, he was named Man of the Series, but Watson would swap all the individual accolades for the one team trophy Australia has never won.
India was the original World T20 Champion. But it is five long years ago since the Indians, and their vast legions of fans, have had anything to shout about in this format. Despite a comprehensive victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the Super Eights, it meant nothing in the final analysis. For the third tournament running, and despite hosting the highly successful IPL, India once again failed to reach the semi-finals.
The minnows remain worryingly out of their depth and the ICC should be concerned. In two years time, when Bangladesh hosts the next World T20s, four extra teams will be invited to the party. The theory goes that permitting more nations will promote the growth and development of the game globally.
In my opinion it’s a flawed concept. If Afghanistan and Ireland, the top second tier countries, cannot make an impression when matched up with the big boys, what hope is there for countries like Canada? The Canadians have a realistic chance of qualifying for 2014 but no one wants to see the smaller cricketing nations outclassed and embarrassed. It does nothing for the development of the game if cricket’s emerging outposts are routinely humiliated.
You can’t just throw them in and apply a sink-or-swim mentality. They will sink. To truly develop the game in places like Canada it is vital to forge closer ties with the West Indies and play regular, competitive cricket in the Caribbean. Only then and only over time will the ICC Associates stand a ghost of a chance at major tournaments.
It’s a debate for another day but the sooner something is done the better chance there is of cricket being truly adopted by a tangible percentage of the sports loving North American audience.
Further South, the party is in full swing. Not that the West Indies need an excuse for a party. They know how to dance. It’s in the DNA.