The Hindu : A sad sight, indeed!

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 03, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

A sad sight, indeed!

It was a sad sight to see an ordinary bunch of West Indian pacemen struggling on the placid Bridgetown pitch. That they were up against the Aussies did not make matters any easier for them.

It did not take my mind long to travel back to the 70s and 80s when the West Indians had outstanding, match-winning and fearsome fast bowlers. The men who added a fascinating dimension to world cricket.

The pace quartet was the brain-child of former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd, whose pride was dented by the fact that the Caribbeans were humiliated 5-1 by Australia down under in the mid-70s.

When the Indians successfully chased 400 plus at Port of Spain, in the next series, Lloyd's mind was made. It would only be pace from now on.

Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Joel Garner and then Malcolm Marshall, they could all send shivers down a batsman's spine. The manner in which they ran in, sent stumps cartwheeling or made the ball whistle past the batsman's nose made fast bowling a great spectacle.

It also turned the West Indians into a virtually unbeatable side. The Caribbeans, under both Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards, never lost a series at home, and when the former held the reins, was invincible away from home too.

The side had a formidable array of batsmen, but it was the destructive pacemen who ensured that the Tests would finish in double quick time. Those days, the West Indians possessed a wealth of fast bowlers and it was extremely difficult for even a promising paceman to break into the eleven.

In fact, Sylvester Clark and Wayne Daniel, two intimidating fast bowlers, who would have walked into most sides, often had to sit on the sidelines.

The trend continued in the 80s, we saw two extremely promising pacemen emerging from the Caribbean — Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. We also had two genuinely quick bowlers surfacing for the Windies — Ian Bishop and Patrick Patterson. I had the chance of facing the West Indian pace battery and I can tell you that it was extremely challenging.

Ambrose and Walsh went on to have illustrious careers, however Bishop and Patterson were undone by injuries. Now we find that the West Indian cupboard is almost bare.

Among the current crop, only Mervyn Dillon has had some success, but even he cannot to be termed `deadly' by any stretch of imagination.

Compared to the greats of the West Indian past, he would be not more than an honest trier.

Jermaine Lawson has some potential, but he still has a long way to go. The others like Tino Best hardly inspire confidence. There was a time when a Test century in the Caribbean would be a monumental achievement. Now even a lesser batsman such as Darren Lehmann is able to reach the three-figure mark.

The fact that batsketball is attracting the best of athletes in the Caribbean has robbed the West Indian cricket of some fast bowlers. The wickets have also slowed down considerably, not helping matters one bit.

In fact, on the first day of the ongoing Test in Barbados, we hardly saw any bounce or seam movement. Unless the pitches in the Caribbean get quicker, the fast bowlers in that beautiful land may not have much of a future.

Cricket will be the loser.

K. SRIKKANTH

www.kris-srikkanth.com

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