Holder’s men winning fight for recognition
The beaten West Indies can thrive despite the financial and political clout holding them back
In the early hours of yesterday morning, some time after Jason Holder’s defeated side had trooped from the field at Lord’s, the main cricketing event of the weekend began. In front of a screeching, capacity 18,000 crowd at the Brian Lara Stadium, the Knight Riders from Trinidad and Tobago beat the Patriots from St Kitts and Nevis to win the fifth edition of the Caribbean Premier League.
The match, broadcast live to a global audience of millions on television and Facebook, featured some of the leading names in the Caribbean game: Chris Gayle, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Darren and Dwayne Bravo. The two teams shared prize-money of around £1.2million and afterwards, spectators and players partied long into the night. And from the other side of the world, it was tempting to wonder how we had reached a situation where a Lord’s Test between England and West Indies – once one of the highlights of the cricketing year – was no longer even the highlight of the cricketing weekend.
You had to feel, too, for Holder and his players, especially after a fortnight in which they had so spectacularly surpassed themselves.
Their win at Headingley was one of the outstanding 21st-century performances by a
West Indian side. And there were moments at Lord’s – England 134 for eight on Friday afternoon, for example, or Kieran Powell and
Shai Hope batting West Indies into the lead – when even a staggering series victory was within reach. England’s celebrations were fervent and genuine. They knew how close they had been to an almighty shock.
Disappointment in defeat, then, but a certain dignity, too. And – far more importantly – hope. The pictures coming out of Trinidad on Saturday night were a reminder of the challenge this side face merely to get noticed. Over recent years, the exodus of talent from Test cricket to franchised Twenty20 has created not merely two separate teams, but almost two rival products, both competing for your time: the West Indies, and the West Indians, coming to a floodlit oval near you.
Even Holder’s post-match press conference was overshadowed by questions about Gayle, Darren Bravo and who else might yet return to Test cricket.
Several of the exiles are due to fly in for the upcoming white-ball series and with qualification for the 2019 World Cup still in the balance, a partial rapprochement between board and players is surely both overdue and sensible. But if the last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it is that this team should be defined not by its absent players, but the ones here now. “I think we’ve got the best of the lot right now,” Holder said.
The capacity for improvement should daunt and excite them. Shai Hope, who enjoyed a “breakthrough series” according to his captain, is still only 23. Kraigg Brathwaite is 24, Jermaine Blackwood 25. New-ball pair Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel still have a good four or five years left. Holder is only 25, and still has plenty of learning to do as a captain. The fielding needs work, they still need a No 3, a proper third seamer and a decent keeperbatsman. But with a little time, and a little love, this is a team who could go places.
Whether either will transpire, of course, is another matter. The forces massed against them – financial, political, demographic, even cultural – are enormous. New Zealand have just snipped their forthcoming series from three Tests to two. Nobody can say for certain when they will return to England. There are calls within the Caribbean for the islands to go their separate ways. Meanwhile, the new Indian Premier League television deal will make a T20 career richer than ever.
This is a side who will have to fight a thousand battles before they face a single ball. West Indies need money, coaches and infrastructure. They need goodwill and good skill, a little luck and a little consistency. Can they summon the same fire and focus they showed at a packed Lord’s when they go to Zimbabwe next month with nobody watching? Can they reintegrate old players without disturbing team spirit?
A long, long road lies ahead. But it all starts with hope.