Light years behind

If we did not know, or if we refused to believe, certainly the West Indies is light years behind in all forms of Cricket.

The current Airtel Champions League taking place in South Africa exposed the falsity of belief of some of our people and our cricketers, through the regional representative, Guyana.{{more}}

The regional team representing us was outclassed, outfoxed, outplayed, and simply put, they were out of their league.

As it stood, Guyana lost all four matches, and left little or no impression on the lucrative tournament.

That should not be any surprise as the regional T/20 competition did little to inspire hope.

At least, Trinidad and Tobago made the region happy at last year’s inaugural tournament in India by being the runner up, beaten in the Finals by New South Wales of Australia.

Trinidad and Tobago then left an impression, and Kieron Pollard carved out a reputation for himself as being one of the game’s most destructive T/20 batsmen.

Pollard was then smiling all the way to the bank, as his asking price was in excess of US$1 Million thereafter in the high paying Indian Premier League.

Pollard’s teammate Adrian Barath was able to gain a contract in the equally big money spending Indian Premier League, albeit at a small sum of US$100,000, but it was not a bad pay day for a 20-year-old.

What then did Guyana come away with, except for the experience and some financial gain of the players?

So we are back down to earth after hopes were raised in some quarters for the Guyanese to give better representation, especially after the exploits of the Trinis in 2009.

We in the Caribbean often think that one sunny day makes a Summer.

But one cannot be too harsh of the Guyanese, as, of course, they would not deliberately do badly, granted the extremely heavy earnings that are in store for the winner, US$11 Million.

They were beaten even before they left the Caribbean, as there was the usual squabble about money and other rights.

Additionally, the West Indies is a suckling babe, when it comes to T/20 Cricket, as opposed to the other nations, who were weaned a long time ago, and are today grown adults.

Despite being quite clearly the least experienced bunch, the Guyanese opponents wasted little time in knocking them over and certainly did their homework, and quickly dispatched any player who posed even a miniscule threat.

At the inaugural Caribbean Twenty/20 Cricket Competition back in July, two of the emerging players were Jonathan Foo and Davendra Bishoo, a hard hitting batsman and a leg spinner, respectively. Much was thought of both.

The former, though, who left the region with a reputation, had that deflated as he made no significant score.

Bishoo, however, had average returns, including the prized scalp of Sachin Tendulkar.

So here we are back to square one, as the Champions League showing epitomizes the state of West Indies Cricket, that of inconsistency.

We are at the bottom of the ladder in all three international forms of the game.

Therefore, we are in a quandary, as we do not know where to start to regain some sort of recognition on the world Cricket arena.

As our Cricket authorities have been impetuous by nature over the years, there were pronouncements recently about increasing the number of T/20 competitions in the regional territories in order to lift the standard of Cricket’s shortest format.

But that would mean a sacrifice for the other forms.

Yes, T/20 Cricket is here to stay, but the West Indies Board and the individual territorial boards must keep in the back of their minds that Test match Cricket is the real thing. And, that is the format that distinguishes teams, and it was that format that made the West Indies world beaters for more than a decade.

We are also light years being in keeping that Mound at the Sion Hill Playing Field.