Where Has The Love For Cricket Gone?

Quote:Caribbean cricket fans have witnessed a steady decline in the quality of players wearing the maroon over the last two decades. The old stalwarts demitted office; the new recruits could not match their level of expertise; and West Indies cricket has, for an extended period, taken up residence at the bottom of the Test and One Day International (ODI) rankings. Captains, coaches, selectors have been changed regularly all to little avail, and so we should all appreciate by now that we have not scratched the surface of the real cause of Caribbean's cricket's demise.

Promising performances every now and then has served to stoke stirrings of hope in the hearts of long-suffering fans and well-wishers, only to have them dashed again when forced to grapple with the latest disappointing defeat. The recent stunning victory against England in Barbados, for example, brought a smile to face of fans that was emphatically wiped clean by the marauding Australians who administered two humiliating beatings to a team that seemed out of its depth. At no time were the Australians in danger of surrendering the Frank Worrell Trophy, and the gulf between the teams was as gaping as that between a first grader and a PHD graduate.

The equation is simple: the Caribbean has to start producing more proficient players if they are to compete with the better teams. Now, one assertion often made and heard in the West Indies is that there resides in the Islands as much cricketing talent as there is anywhere else. Well, if that is so then that abundant talent is certainly not being uncovered, and one only has to follow the regional first-class competition to appreciate this.

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Garfield , was this the Game ?

Yes it was.

aaawwwww Mannnn : those were the days of real regional cricket !

Haynes and Carlysle made a mess of that run chase ...


Mapoui points out that likelihood of that kinda cricket again is Zero  :-[

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIV...B1988.html


Whispering Death, Cuddy and Patto : miss this match


Ambrose and Benjamin ran thru the Jamaica bats

Prior to the 80s:

The best match up was to play Guyana at  Bourda Green !

I recall Sobers facing Winston English : rapped on the Pad first ball and Sobers pretended to walk .

Crowd went Crazy  !

Then Sobers took back his guard to total Silence ! 

I guess it first started leaving when the West Indies team stopped winning and started a new trend as the beating stick of world cricket among the established nations. The fact that money has now been added also means that it is just a job for some and not a game of pride.