In hope

Change. Never stops. We all know that.
But sometimes change occurs so quickly and so drastically that you are often left wondering, "How could this happen?" or like "How could it come to this?".

Like in cricket itself, a game of skill, endurance and technique before we know it is a "who can hit the ball the hardest?" contest. Also a decade ago we would laugh at a guy who said that scoring (or chasing) 100 in the last 10 overs was possible. Today not only is it possible but is also branded "comfortable" by today's commentators and pundits. A lot of sports undergo changes. But nothing can compare to what cricket has gone through in the past decade. Whether it is for the good or not is a debate that is reserved for another day.

Another example of quick and drastic change is the West Indies cricket team. Before I say anything let me confirm that I am a big fan of West Indian Cricket. And to be frank who isn't? They are the one team that seem to be loved universally. Everybody likes aggressive batsmen, athletic fielders and tall and lethal fast bowlers. Except that, there don't seem to be any tall fast bowlers anymore. In fact the irony is that their tallest bowler (Benn) is a spinner. It is as though the average height of the West Indian fast bowler has decreased by at least a foot.(btw I have no stats to support that statement. It was more of a calculated(wild) guess.). But I would be stupid to suggest that the only thing that has changed in West Indies cricket over the past 15 years is the height of their fast bowlers.

When I think of the West Indies team 15 years back I recall the brilliant fast bowlers spearheaded by Walsh and Ambrose. Clever and aggressive batsmen like Richardson, Hooper and a young Brian Lara. Fast forward 15 years and you have team comprising Gayle, Bravo, Ramdin ,Edwards and the experienced Chandepaul and Sarwan. A talented team with a number of emerging stars in the ranks as well.

On paper both the teams seem well balanced but while the West Indian team of the 90's were a threatening bunch and always hard to beat, the team of today have become victims of the quote "They are better than what their performance suggests." And I couldn't agree more because they ARE better than that.There is no doubt that, the team on their day, can beat anyone in world cricket. There is enough talent, experience and depth in their squad to not only compete but also succeed in the international level. And not many, I believe will disagree to that.

So, the question has to be asked, Why aren't they as successful as they should be? To be honest, I have no idea why they aren't. But you get the feeling that having hit rock bottom, there is only one direction in which the team can move from here - UP. Maybe, just maybe, a resurgence is round the corner.

As I mentioned earlier, a lot of things have changed. But some things never change. Like the way in which the West Indians play their cricket. They always have a blast while they play and one thing that you can always expect while seeing them play is aggressive and attacking cricket.(that's two things actually). And they rarely disappoint, on both counts.
Long live the calypso cricket. Long live the Windies.