The terminal decline of West Indies's pace bowling battery - Part 2

The long list is never ending, as one can think of bowlers like Hamish Anthony, Gibson, Drakes, Sanford, Hendy Bryan, Daren Powell, Tonge, Rayad Emrit, Pascal, Andrew Richardson, and many more who couldn’t climb up the ladder to become the spearheads of the Windies pace attack.

It has to be a combination of various factors that resulted in West Indies cricket finding itself in shambles. Haphazard selection policies, faulty administration, and to an extent, cricketers themselves have to blamed for not having the will power to come through the ranks, and do well in international cricket. Actually, the way WICB handles cricket administration, not many youngsters would even envisage pursuing cricket as a professional career.

It is also true that popularity of cricket in the Caribbean is said to be on the wane, as youngsters are attracted by other sports like athletics, football and basketball. Sprinters like Bolt, Blake, Obadele Thompson and company could have very well been playing cricket instead of foraying into athletics. These days, football too is said to be a major sport in the Caribbean. The likes of Dwight Yorke, Kenwyne Jones, Shaka Hislop and Jason Scotland and company have played in various leagues in Europe. It has to be said though that those who try to make a living out of football by playing in local leagues of the Caribbean, earn a pittance.

Current crop of West Indies’s pacers

Kemar Roach

Among the current lot, Roach has the fire in his belly to bowl consistently quick. He should at least end up with more then 200 Test wickets to his name. Ravi Rampaul is an honest trier who can surprise the batsman with an extra burst of pace. Tino Best can be a bit of hit and miss bowler, though he has always been in the quick bracket. The slingy Fiedel Edwards is still around, but even now he is struggling with fitness issues and form. Gabriel, Miguel Cummins, Delorn Johnson and Jason Holder are promising too.

One bowler who should have been at the peak of his prowess by now is Jerome Taylor. Unfortunately, he seems to have been mismanaged by a malfunctioning board. Taylor, who has struggled with persistent injuries in the last few years, last played a first-class game back in 10/11.

It is perhaps not right on our part to compare the current crop of Windies pacers to all those legendary names of yore. Yet, it must be disheartening for the cricket-loving public of West Indies to see that in the last two decades, only one bowler has breached the mark of 100 Test wickets. Hopefully, the current spearhead of the West Indian pace attack, Roach, will fulfill his true potential, and not follow in the footsteps of all those misfiring bowlers who have fallen by the wayside in recent times.