<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For decades, writers and watchers across the world documented the decline of West Indies cricket. Let the record speak. Let the scapegoating stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Marlon Bute<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The struggles of West Indies cricket are not a recent phenomenon. For more than a decade before 2020, regional and international media were chronicling a team in persistent decline. These voices did not waver or pause. They spoke with urgency, clarity, and frustration. What follows is curated evidence. Headlines and quotations from newspapers and journals to prove that the challenges we face now were plainly visible years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not analysis. This is testimony. The world saw it. The world said it. The record is public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What the Headlines Said
1. \u201cWhat Happened to the Windies?\u201d \u2014 The Guardian (UK), 2007
2. \u201cKing Calls Time on Windies\u201d \u2014 The Guardian, 2007
3. \u201cDwindling Windies Support Reflects a Great Cultural Change\u201d \u2014 The Guardian, 2007
4. \u201cCozier Fears Terminal Decline in West Indies\u201d \u2014 ESPNcricinfo, c. 2007
5. \u201cDecline and Fall\u201d \u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2007
6. \u201cThe New, Quieter Caribbean\u201d \u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2012
7. \u201cWest Indies\u2019 Downward Spiral in the 2000s\u201d \u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2009
8. \u201cRays of Hope in a Decade of West Indian Decline\u201d \u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2009
9. \u201cSoaring in the 1980s, Slumping in the 2000s\u201d \u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2013
10. \u201cThe Rot in West Indies Cricket\u201d \u2014 Stabroek News, 2013
11. \u201cThe Slow Death of West Indies Test Cricket\u201d \u2014 CricketCountry, 2016
12. \u201cThe Gradual Decline of West Indian Cricket Is Hardly a New Phenomenon\u201d \u2014 CricketWindies, 2017
13. \u201cFrom Calypso Kings to Crisis Mode\u201d \u2014 Cricbuzz, 2018
14. \u201cThe Sad Decline of West Indies Cricket\u201d \u2014 The Economist, 2015
15. \u201cGone with the Windies\u201d \u2014 The Economist, 2015
16. \u201cThe West Indies Will Not Again Be a Cricket Giant\u201d \u2014 The Economist, 2019
17. \u201cThe Sad Demise of West Indies Cricket\u201d \u2014 Firstpost, 2016
18. \u201cCan West Indies Reclaim Its Cricketing Glory?\u201d \u2014 The Guardian, 2019
19. \u201cLosing the Heritage \u2014 Falling Out of Love with Cricket\u201d \u2014 ResearchGate, 2019
20. \u201cNo One Can Doubt Maladministration Also to Blame for Decline\u201d \u2014 Stabroek News, 2015
21. \u201cThree West Indies Players Decline to Travel for England Test Series\u201d \u2014 The Guardian, 2020
22. \u201cWest Indies Home with Heads High as England Prepare Pace\u2026\u201d \u2014 The Guardian, 2020
23. \u201cA Sobering First Day for Struggling West Indies\u201d \u2014 The Guardian, 2007
24. \u201cPollard Bemoans Sad Day for West Indies Cricket\u201d \u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What the Record Said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the 2000s, West Indies went further and faster down the slippery slope they started on the decade before, as infighting, apathy and instability came to reign.\u201d
\u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWest Indies had a 53\u201313 win\u2011loss record. In their last 99, it is 16\u201353. That, in a nutshell, shows how steep the decline has been.\u201d
\u2014 ESPNcricinfo, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBetween March 1976 and March 1995, the West Indies won 71 and lost only 20. Since June 2000, they have won 14 and lost 80.\u201d
\u2014 The Economist, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing an amateur, Cozier was always first and foremost on the side of the fans. Ostracized by bureaucrats who have reduced cricket in the West Indies to a permanent state of embarrassment.\u201d
\u2014 The Independent, 2016<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCricket is the number one game. It is the glue which holds the West Indies together. Now that glue has loosened.\u201d
\u2014 The Guardian, 2007<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is to remind the West Indian cricketing public that this tragedy has been in the works for at least two decades. Unless corrective action is taken, West Indian cricket can go into irreversible decline.\u201d
\u2014 Stabroek News, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let Us Now Bring the Matter Home<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For there are some \u2014 some with loud voices and familiar platforms \u2014 who would have the region believe that all that has befallen West Indies cricket has arrived under one man\u2019s watch. That the stumblings of decades have been delivered by one set of hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They would attempt to heap coals \u2014 burning coals \u2014 upon the head of Dr. Kishore Shallow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not criticism they offer. Criticism is healthy. Criticism is necessary. But what they serve is something else. A campaign. A performance. A deliberate distortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not cricket that is being discussed. It is not the fortunes of a team. It is not accountability. It is something far more cynical and self-serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it ought to be named for what it is. Unfair. Untruthful. And ultimately, unhelpful to the future of West Indies cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problems of today were the problems of yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evidence has spoken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For decades, writers and watchers across the world documented the decline of West Indies cricket. Let the record speak. Let the scapegoating stop. By Marlon Bute The struggles of West Indies cricket are not a recent phenomenon. For more than a decade before 2020, regional and international media were chronicling a team in persistent decline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":42352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mainstory"],"yoast_head":"\n