Letter of the Day | Rekindle spirit and passion in West Indies Test cricket

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The global dominance of West Indies in Test cricket lasted from about 1976 to 1995. In the 30 years that have elapsed since that time, about 100 players have represented the West Indies in Test cricket; of that number of batsmen and bowlers, only one player, Chris Gayle, would have been good enough to represent the West Indies in Test Cricket during that golden era.

However, we might consider adding the name of Jaydon Seales, the skilful Trinidadian seamer, who after five years of Test cricket, has an average of 22 runs per wicket. Excluded from the post-1995 era are Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul whose careers started in the golden era but ended afterwards.

There are those who criticise Mr Gayle for not using his feet when he bats, but the ‘stand and deliver’ hitter has a batting average of 42 and two triple centuries to his credit. An average of 40 and over is usually taken as the benchmark of high quality batting in Test cricket.

There is a doubt about adding the name of Mr Seales to Mr Gayle’s because his Test career is only five years old, and it is not reasonable to compare his achievement with cricketers whose careers lasted 10 to 15 years. But there is no gainsaying his tremendous talent. His average of 22 runs per wicket readily places him among the dominant group of Marshall, Holding, Garner, Roberts, Croft, Ambrose and Walsh from the golden era.

We have to confront the truth that lucrative T20 cricket has robbed West Indies Test Cricket of the region’s best players. But T20 cricket cannot take all the blame; after all, when it started in 2003 the decline had already set in. More can, and must, be done by Cricket West Indies and the Region to ensure that the best players make themselves available for Test cricket.

By the same token, more can, and must, be done by the relevant authorities in Jamaica to ensure that our best athletes remain at home. There is wealth in Jamaica, sufficient to induce our athletes to remain here. The problem with the wealth is its grossly uneven distribution.

The decline in Test cricket has been analysed and inquired into ad nauseam. At this point, the need is for an action plan to arrest the downward trend.

Technical efficiency by itself will not suffice. We must rekindle the spirit and passion that inspired Michael Holding in 1976 at the Oval, England to unleash blindingly fast deliveries on a flat pitch that yielded 14 wickets for 149 runs, including the wicket of the English captain Tony Greig from racist South Africa. Having earlier predicted that England would make the West Indies grovel during the Test series, Greig later conceded that the West Indies did indeed make England grovel.

PATRICK ROBINSON