Once A Powerhouse, West Indies Is On A Downward Spiral That Spells Trouble For Test Cricket’s Future

“We’ve lost the fear factor. … Teams knew they couldn’t beat us.” You could sense the lament in the voice of former captain Darren Sammy, who was actually describing to me in October the spiral of West Indies during the T20 World Cup.

But Sammy, who captained West Indies to T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016, could have easily been talking about the team’s plight in Test cricket after a disastrous 2-0 series thrashing against Australia.

Ahead of their first Test series against Australia since 2015-16, there was some hope West Indies could be competitive after series victories against England and Bangladesh earlier in the year.

But those triumphs were at home on slower surfaces, which are conditions West Indies are fairly sufficient playing in but on their graveyard site in Australia – where they haven’t won a Test match since February 1997 – they offered little resistance.

Australia feasted on listless bowling – even though to be fair West Indies were injury hit, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered much. West Indies were totally overmatched and outplayed culminating in a dismal 419-run thrashing in the second Test after being routed for 77 in their second innings.

Worryingly, there wasn’t much fight for a team who were trying to prove their competitiveness away from home. And to show they are worthy of playing more regularly against Australia, who traditionally have little time for smaller nations.

In a quirk of the World Test Championship cycle, West Indies will be returning to Australia next summer for another Test series. You can be assured that the state associations will not want to host West Indies, who have not won a Test in their 16 attempts in Australia – 14 of them have been losses.

Next summer could be a tough sell with Pakistan the other team set to journey Down Under and their record in Australia is somehow even worse than West Indies with 14 straight losses dating back over two decades.

But they have at least some drawcards in contrast to West Indies, who sadly don’t have marquee names even though there are several decent players in the line-up.

Their lack of pizzaz – a complete reversal from their glory years from the mid-’70s through to the middle of the ’90s – was underlined by very little marketing given to a series which felt like a glorified warm-up to the blockbuster three-match series between Australia and South Africa starting in Brisbane on December 17.

West Indies haven’t been particularly good in Test cricket for 25 years. Truth is, they’ll probably never again reach those heights given the irresistible financial lure of T20 franchise leagues.

West Indies, most certainly, have marquee players in T20 cricket although most of them are either retired from international cricket or past their primes. West Indies, currently, are not particularly good at any format.

While there is hope of a rebound in the shorter formats, sustained Test cricket success remains elusive and it’s not hyperbole to suggest their future is bleak in the format.

Although they aren’t alone. For some time power brokers in the International Cricket Council have pondered over the long-term sustainability of a format treasured among purists but rather archaic.

The prevailing view point is that Test cricket will eventually be only played between a handful of countries with the marquee series to remain intact while the rest of the calendar will be dotted by T20 franchise leagues.

With the T20 format the growth engine of the sport, bearing fruit at the recent T20 World Cup, Test cricket is likely to eventually be merely for the old guard – particularly Australia and England, countries where the format is still hugely popular.

India, too, are dedicated although one wonders if the expected lengthening of the money-spinning Indian Premier League will erode this.

But emerging cricket countries aren’t investing in the expensive Test format with the current number of 12 Test playing nations unlikely to expand – perhaps ever.

Smaller Test playing nations like West Indies could also pull the pin on the format because what will really be the point of clinging on to a delusion of recapturing their heyday which is already stretching two decades ago.

It’s all rather a shame for Test traditionalists but it’s a snapshot of what cricket might look like in the decades ahead.