West Indian Cricket Tarnished Once Again

West Indian Cricket was thrown into turmoil once again last night as farcical circumstances resulted in them loosing the first one-day international against England in Guyana.

Bad light seemed to have cut short the game with just three overs remaining, and with the Duckworth Lewis System set to be introduced because of the postponement of play, John Dyson, the West Indian coach waved the side in, when in-fact they were still behind the required par score.

Dyson hadn't taken into account the seventh wicket to fall, taken by Stuart Broad just before the batsman were offered the light, meaning the team were behind the required score and in danger of loosing the match.

The coach called the batsman at the crease in, believing his side had won the match, only to discover his awful error moments later.

This is just one in a number of dreadful mistakes that West Indian Cricket have made during England's tour to the country, issues that everyone should have seen coming.

The writing was on the wall for me at the Cricket World Cup staged in 2007 by the West Indies.

The tournament was littered with one-sided matches, all be it not exclusive to that particular tournament, slow pitches and small crowds.

The organisers clearly hadn't taken advantage of what should have been showpiece event, and circumstances weren't helped by the eventual result of the final, for which Australia won after some ridiculous umpiring decisions.

Bad light had halted play, and with Sri Lanka behind the required Duckworth Lewis score Australia should have been declared the winners.

The umpires then told the players the final three overs must be bowled, cutting short the Australian celebrations.

The final 18 balls were bowled in almost total darkness, while Adam Gilchrist’s brilliant knock of 149 prevailed into insignificance.

An awful ending to what had been a pretty forgettable tournament did nothing to re-vitalise West Indian Cricket, definitely a missed opportunity for the West Indies Cricket Board.

With England touring this summer it was a chance for the team on the pitch to continue the re-building process, but yet again it was off the pitch where the questions were being asked.

The first test produced four days of woeful Cricket, while the fifth day gave us some sort of excitement with England being bowled out for just 51 as the home side won the first test.

The rest of the series produced flat pitches and plenty of run as all four remaining tests ending in a draw, with of course that infamous no-result in the 2nd test.

It was that test that brought the most controversy as the match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium was abandoned after 10 balls were bowled.

The debate is still raging on how the match was allowed to be started, and how a host of concerns before the match begun were not considered by the Antiguan Cricket Board.

With the remainder of the series resulting in a draw the West Indies did win the series, and clearly showed the side had developed on the pitch, while off it, it had been a pretty dreadful period.

With the one-day series starting yesterday it was a chance for the controversies of the test series to be forgotten, but the first one-day game was jam packed with further problems.

Guyana gave us another painfully slow pitch and another reminder of how the traditional West Indian pitches of yesterday are nothing more than a memory.

The ending was in keeping with the pace of the match, a the West Indian batsman shamefully played for the light, showing very little ambition with the game very much within there reach within the permitted time.

They waited to be offered the light and with the coaching staff beckoning the batsman in they begun the celebrations.

With the way the whole team went about the match I have very little sympathy for how it all worked out, maybe the whole side might learn from this disappointing defeat.

Hosting England was meant to be another way that the West Indies could re-assert themselves on the world cricket stage, and with all due respect the team have taken some giant steps forward, but off the pitch the problems still remain.

We always hear the critical words from the legends of West Indies Cricket such as Richards and Clive Lloyd, but maybe its time these individuals had more of a say on how Cricket is run in this country.

Serious questions have to be asked about the state of Cricket in this country, and if the events of yesterday are anything to go by, there’s plenty of hard work to do.