For what it's worth, I believe that the nature of the 'West Indies' makes fixing the board impossible.
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AFLW 2024 - Round 9 - Indigenous Round - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
When the West Indies were strong did they have no politics, good first class organisation, good board, good pitches etc? I don't know, just asking. I remember heaps of their players off playing county cricket though.All fair points.
The bottom line is this.
The under 19 World Cup and the T20 world cups prove that this side has, at its core, as much - if not more - natural talent as any cricket nation on the planet. So that’s not an issue. Clearly, development is. At the bottom of all the politics, shit infrastructure, poor pitches, poor first class organisation, shit board etc, that’s the essence of it. Poor development. Fix that, fix West Indies cricket. It’s that simple. The icc could do it in a heartbeat.
When the West Indies were strong did they have no politics, good first class organisation, good board, good pitches etc? I don't know, just asking. I remember heaps of their players off playing county cricket though.
Why do you need a string of NBA names?
Basketball has negatively affected cricket participation in Australia - especially in country areas - and we have barely a handful make the NBA
When the West Indies were strong did they have no politics, good first class organisation, good board, good pitches etc? I don't know, just asking. I remember heaps of their players off playing county cricket though.
County cricket had a big part in it. Effort was put into pitch preparation so they actually had some life in them. Inter-island pride was a big thing so there’s not much accounting for that on a cricket level admittedly. Politics-wise, from the moment Worrell took over as captain they were on the same page.
For what it's worth, their domestic cricket has been dominated by spin bowlers over the past 5-10 years. It's a struggle to find many batsmen who have a FC average over 37-38 too.
The Windies have a bloke called Imran Khan playing FC cricket?
The Windies have a bloke called Imran Khan playing FC cricket?
Pakistan themselves have had 3 players called Imran Khan - why so surprised?
They do seem to produce a lot more spinners these days.
As a complete outsider I'd say there's a big cultural element to that. When you think back to the great bowlers of the past it was Ambrose, Walsh, Garner, Marshall, Bishop etc. which are all English names. And they were all African (origin). And apart from Marshall were pretty much all tall. These sort of guys still exist, but there aren't as many making it to superstar status.
These days you have Rampaul, Narine, Bishoo etc. and the two leading wicket takers in their FC comp are Permaul and Imran Khan. There has always been a significant Indian population in the region (particularly in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago) but I reckon that sports like soccer, baseball and track & field have drawn more African athletes away from cricket increasing the proportion of Indian players. I base this purely on observation of course.
Has migration to the UK during the '70s and '80s also taken away some of the home-grown future generations too?
I know approximately zero about Caribbean migration patterns in that era, but as far as cricket talent from the region representing England there haven't been that many.
I think the surge in popularity in football hasn't helped, when the first black cricketers were breaking into the team football in England was almost overtly racist and while cricket wasn't perfect it has always been far more welcoming to players of colour. Nowadays football is far more inclusive, far more attractive in terms of earnings too and more young black kids are choosing to play it. Just a theory.Jordan, Headley (think he was actually English but obviously had great Caribbean genes), Malcolm, DeFreitas, Small, Joey Benjamin, Chris Lewis, Carberry is of Guyanese and Barbadian blood. That’s all since 1990. I know Norman Cowans from the 80s was Jamaican.
Great insights ...