West Indies in the latter half of the 20th century used to be a class team. The likes of Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts used to simply send shivers down the spines of the opposition batters.
But in recent times, West Indies haven’t been able to live up to the billing. The Men in Maroon have been at their all-time low and their cricketing folklore is being put to shame.
There was a time when the aggressive brand of cricket of the West Indians used to pique people’s interest in this sport. But the dominance, aggression and powerful nature of West Indies has faded into oblivion.
Their performances have plunged into an all-time low and they haven’t been able to replicate their performances of their previous years.
In this article, we take a look at 3 reasons why West Indies are witnessing a decline in international cricket:
1. Major disputes between the board and the players
There always has been long-standing disputes between the apex body of West Indies cricket, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the players of West Indies. These problems have primarily stemmed in the 21st century.
Notably, Dwayne Bravo had called out the WICB over the lack of facilities and amenities in 2015. Post their ICC T20 World Cup win in 2016, skipper Daren Sammy had called out the WICB in his post-match presentation speech at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
These debates have always had one entity that has suffered the most- West Indies cricket!
2. Lack of depth and quality in the current crop of players
Some of the players who represent the Men in Maroon, don’t seem to have the talent which the West Indies cricketers used to have in the yesteryears. The likes of Shai Hope, Brandon King and Alzarri Joseph are good cricketers but haven’t been able to grab the limelight with their performances.
This has eventually led to the dismal performances of the cricketers in major International Cricket Council (ICC) events.
3. Payment issues
Due to a few payment issues, the players prefer playing franchise cricket across the globe rather than representing West Indies. The likes of Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran and Sunil Narine have been sought-after players in the world of T20 franchise cricket and their performances have always piqued interests in people.
The unabashed reality is that West Indies have not been able to find adequate sponsors for their national team. One understands that this is because of their abysmal performances in the highest stage of cricket.
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