Their best player is a 27 year old left arm orthodox spinner/all rounder who bats down at eight. Their first change bowler barely touches the 130kph mark. Their opening batsmen average 24.32 and 2.5 respectively, and their captian is a 37 year old Barbadian who has played no less than eight one day internationals. These statistics led many to believe that this West Indian side would be a liability to the tournament, but statistics often lie, and the appearance of this second-string side far from degraded the level of cricket in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
I have to admit, I was a little bit skeptical about the quality of the West Indian side going into this years Champions Trophy. Afterall, it was this side who had lost all of their senior players to a dispute with the West Indian Cricket board, and then lost two tests against Bangladesh and been hammered in the corresponding one-day series. Although I am all for the underdog, I couldn't help but feel that Bangladesh would have made the tournament just a little bit more exciting and competitive than what the Caribbean side could throw up. I was wrong.
Yes, the West Indies struggled, in terms of solid cricketing ability. But what they lacked in pure talent, ability to play the swinging ball and precision to produce consistent bowling performances, they made up for in heart, and fight, and pride that they showed playing for their country.
It's an interesting word to throw around, pride. With all of the big money tournaments springing up seemingly every year, IPL, ICL, Champions League etc., one gets the feeling that many players have forgoten to behold the main reason for playing international cricket: to represent your country. When I was a young boy, much like many other young children around the world, all I dreamt of was representing my country, Australia, in an international cricket match. And if I was tallented enough, if I got asked to pull on the baggy green without pay I would more than happily ablige. I'm by no means suggesting that the top players should get no money for playing cricket, but I think some players (because of all the money in the game) are forgetting the simple, undeniable truth that they are, one of only 11 players who get to represent their country, out of all the millions of people residing in their nation.
That's why I enjoy watching this young West Indies team play, because they are the second string side, and they are less talented than some of the bigger cricketing nations, and they do have poorer first class systems, and they do get payed considerably less than what other players from other countries get... but they haven't forgotten they are representing their country, they haven't forgotten they are living a childhood dream, the dream that seldom others get to come true. It's something other players around the world can learn from these West Indies players.
I also love the amount of fight, and passion this West Indies side shows. They pushed both Pakistan, and then Australia to the limits of both sides abilities, when in reality they shouldn't have got anywhere close. I was in awe watching the fighting innings played by Nikita Miller when his side was struggling to push 100 in their match against Pakistan, and his demolishon of the Australian middle order in their second match. I thoroughly enjoyed the heart shown by Gavin Tonge who ripped through the Pakistani top order at the Wanderers. I loved watching Darren Sammy smash Mitchell Johnson, my idol, for two sixes as his side threatened to take victory out of the hands of the faultering Australians. But the image representing the West Indies that I will take away from this years Champions Trophy is that of Floyd Reifer, the 37 year old skipper from Barbados, at the toss of the match against India, the final one of their tournament. He looked extreemly shy, yet humble, honest, and not afraid to tell Ravi Shastri that he was proud of what his side had achieved, and that they were far from a liability to the 2009 Champions Trophy.
And I agree. The Australian Cricket board has made it clear that if a second string West Indies side tour Australia later this year, they will be looking elsewhere to try and improve the quality of cricket played over the summer. Yet I would be delighted to see this young side from the Caribbean tour down under in December, and furthermore, will be more than happy to pay the price of admition to see the Windies in action.
No comments:
Post a Comment