Ramdin & Co struggle as Windies big boys party in Indian Premier League

Take a look at the pool of resources that the national team are missing out on — Gayle, Smith, Bravo, Pollard, Sammy, Russell and of course, the mystery spinner Narine are some of the big names who are plying their trade in the ongoing Indian Premier Leag

It’s an all too familiar story, but keeps staring in your face time and again. Watching the likes of young Jermaine Blackwood or a Jerome Taylor sweating it out against England in the first Test in a nearly empty stadium — named quite ironically after Sir Viv Richards — one could not help but ponder over the mess that West Indies cricket finds itself in.

Not that the Denesh Ramadin-led team acquitted themselves badly against a side which has more star appeal man for man, but it’s the failure of their establishment to field the best possible team which hurts you. Somewhere else on the cricketing planet, a clutch of supremely talented Caribbeans are having a party and cocking a snook at the authorities.

Take a look at the pool of resources that the national team are missing out on — Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell and of course, the mystery spinner Sunil Narine are some of the big names who are plying their trade in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). It’s a pity that the Test series has this time clashed squarely with the cash-rich league, but the West Indies authorities seem to lack the will as well as diplomatic skills and ensure that they could be out there in full strength at least for the first of three Tests.

It’s an unwritten rule in the cold and calculating world of IPL franchisees that the full-time availability of a player dictates his price in the auction, but then there have been enough cases when players from national teams have either reported later or left earlier because of national commitments.

Priorities elsewhere

The top West Indies players, thanks to the lack of enough financial incentives from the board and communication breakdown (remember the grudging axe on Bravo and Pollard from the World Cup squad?), don’t really care — making their priorities quite clear. Net result: while the Caribbeans are such hot properties in the world of T20 franchise cricket today, the national team have been left to wallow in mediocrity as their establishment continues to live in denial.

While it’s only natural to sympathise with the player’s perspective, given the fact that playing careers are short, is there no other way to strike a balance between the two? One can understand a 35-year-old Chris Gayle, who has been there and done that in international cricket making his unavailability clear for Tests, but how does one rationalise the stance taken by Sunil Narine?

The tag of a ‘mystery’ spinner may sit on him, but the 26-year-old Trinidadian also needs to realise that he needs to do more than just win matches for Kolkata Knight Riders to earn his place among the West Indian greats. For someone who has just played six Tests since debut in 2012 (with a decent haul of 21 wickets), there should be a little more urgency to put doubts about his action to rest and strike it rich in international cricket — at least for a while.

Given the circumstances, it was heartening to see the emergence of a new batting star like Blackwood, whose maiden Test century against England reminded one about all the good things in Caribbean cricket — aggression and uninhibited stroke play.

May we have more of his ilk for the sake of West Indies cricket!