There were sporadic sparks from West Indies, but to seriously compete at a World Cup, they will need more than just a few one-off moments
Firdose Moonda22-Mar-2015How their tournament panned out
“We are not Chris Gayle United.”That was exasperated response from someone close to the West Indian team after being asked yet another question about the Jamaican.Will he train, won’t he train? Can he run, can’t he run? Will he play, won’t he play?The story of the West Indies World Cup has actually been the story of Chris Gayle, and on most days, the story of Chris Gayle’s back. His long-standing injury has become so bad that there are days when he does not make out of the hotel at all and he has accepted there is “nothing that can be done to fix it.” He has resigned himself to playing through pain but in this tournament, that was not enough to bring West Indies joy.Instead, Gayle served as a sidebar to distract from the real story of the extent of the damage done to West Indies cricket as it continues to muddle through regression.The deficiencies which were exposed on their tour to South Africa earlier in the summer have deepened and they continue to struggle to get it right.When the batting clicked in the first two games, Gayle and the bowlers didn’t. Then, the batting floundered, the bowling looked even worse. West Indies never looked as though the attack or the line-up to be counted among the top four teams at this tournament, unless… well, unless Gayle was fired up enough or they remembered not to be Chris Gayle United.In the end, neither happened as much as West Indies needed and the lasting image of their final moments of the tournament belonged to Gayle. After the quarter-final loss he regaled supporters by tossing what one reporter present in Wellington described as “almost all of his kit” into the crowd. Later that night, he dismissed talk of retirement in any format. And so the story of Chris Gayle United will go on.High point
It could only belong to one man, couldn’t it? After what seemed like an 18-month absence from the fifty-over format, because that’s how long it had been since he scored a century, Gayle reappeared in spectacular fashion when he smashed records to become the first non-Indian double centurion in ODIs. Zimbabwe were the (un)lucky opposition as Gayle scripted an innings of contrasts. The first half was a grind and he seemed willing to work for every run even as his aching back threatened to strand him. When the hundred came up, Gayle barely celebrated. Perhaps he knew there was more to come. The second century was the Gayle we’ve come to know. He bludgeoned and he bashed and he beat his way into tournament history by also registering what was then the highest individual score at a World Cup.Low point
After a squeaky bum victory over Scotland in the warm-ups, West Indies seemed ripe for the picking and Ireland were intent on doing the plucking. West Indies were 87 for 5 before Lendl Simmons drove the recovery with a century and after they posted 304, would have thought themselves safe. That was only the fifth match in the tournament but the previous four had all seen the team batting first post over 300 and win. Ireland changed that. They chased clinically against what looked a blunt attack and got there with more than 25 balls to spare. The loss hurt but maybe not as much as knowing it was not even written up as an upset.Star performer
It could be Chris Gayle, especially as he was their leading run-scorer but, it really really wasn’t. In Jason Holder, West Indies had a captain who led by example even as he tried to find his feet. Holder scored two defiant half-centuries against South Africa and India to show the kind of fight that has been missing from West Indies. He finished as their fourth-highest run-scorer despite batting in the lower middle-order and their third highest wicket-taker. Holder took the new ball and used himself in pressure situations in Powerplays and at the death and although he was not always successful, he was always willing, he was always thinking and he was always doing his best to get it right.What we learnt
West Indies aren’t Chris Gayle United. He finished as their top scorer largely because of one standout knock and his injury problems have forced them to look elsewhere and perhaps slowly, they are finding something. Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons contributed a century each and Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Jason Holder and Darren Sammy chipped in with fifties. Although West Indies have always had more names than just Gayle, the focus always seems to find him and there are times when it should fix itself on other players. Samuels, for example, was singled out by Holder as being one of the few players who had been part of every competitive day of cricket West Indies have had since December. That is impressive. Andre Russell has been the architect in getting them out of trouble, be it through a fast finish to an innings or with ball in hand. That is impressive too. West Indies are not a one man team but when that one man is Gayle, it’s easy to forget that.What they learnt
To seriously compete at a World Cup, they will need more than just a few one-off moments. The marquee batsman – be it Gayle or someone else – needs to come off more often than not and needs the backing of a strong and stable line-up around him. The attack needs someone to share the load with Jerome Taylor. Both those things indicate issues with squad selection, which proved a major hinderance to West Indies. Imagine this squad with Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard. Then they may have been West Indies United.
