Chumps not champs: Windies hit for six by ownmedia

Whitewashed by the Black Caps, the West Indies have been pummelled by their own media as they limped home from their ‘‘nightmare’’ tour of New Zealand.

The once-proud cricketing nation appears dismayed by the ongoing decline of the team.

Words like miserable, abysmal, chumps, and embarrassment were used in a hard-hitting editorial in the Barbados Today newspaper as the repeated losses were digested in the Carribbean.

They even suggested that the scale of the woeful performances was harder to take because the Black Caps only contained ‘‘one or two quality players’’.

The newspaper said there was a need for much ‘‘soul-searching’’ in their game and felt the national administration needed to do more to mend the bridges with some senior players who were absent from the tour.

‘‘That the New Zealand tour has been an on-field embarrassment and a complete disaster is irrefutable,’’ the editorial said.

‘‘There will be some who will blame CWI for the team’s poor showing but the players must ultimately answer the pertinent questions related to what occurred on the cricket field ... the buck for the debacle in New Zealand stops at the players.

‘‘What will be particularly galling to West Indian supporters is that despite the presence of one or two quality players, the New Zealand teams in the three formats were not of the intimidating nature to cause any loss of sleep.’’

Barbados Today felt the problems were widespread.

‘‘With the exception of vice- captain Kraigg Brathwaite, the batting unit in the test matches failed miserably. The bowling unit was collectively disappointing. The fielding was equally abysmal with the likes of Shane Dowrich being a particular letdown behind the stumps.

‘‘The captaincy of Jason Holder continued to show a degree of naivete in on-field decisionmaking. In the ODI arena, it was a case of a general meltdown and the team appeared more world chumps than champs in their supposedly best-performing format, the T20s.’’

They were particularly critical of Holder’s leadership and suggested his future was in jeopardy.

‘‘It was painfully obvious the test team required strong assertive leadership. Holder from this distance appears to be a Mr Nice Guy, a very decent, charming, wellspoken individual who is willing to be supportive of his failing players. And the team members seemingly adore him.

‘‘But aggressive, consistent performances win games, not platitudes, not excuses, not being simply a nice guy. And assertiveness and tact are even more important when leading an average side.’’

There was embarrassment about the batting techniques against intimidatory bowling tactics by New Zealand.

‘‘The sight of West Indies players unable to cope with medium-pacers bowling shortpitched deliveries has been one of the saddest spectacles on the New Zealand tour.’’

The newspaper said the prob- lem lay with pitches in the Windies no longer being prepared for fast bowling and that had produced a ‘‘domino effect’’ in New Zealand.

The editorial couldn’t resist a dig at some of the absent stars as it concluded: ‘‘At the end of the day, it is up to the players to take stock of their performances and steel themselves mentally, technically and physically for the good of West Indies cricket. Despite suggestions to the contrary, our players are handsomely rewarded, even when failing.’’