The West Indies started its 2022 white-ball Home Series consisting of three ODI’s and 5 T20I’s against the visiting Indians on July 22. It has, therefore, now been approximately two weeks, a fortnight as would be said in “proper English,” since the two teams commenced their exchanges against each other. In that period the fortunes of the West Indies team, as well as the resulting associated emotions of its fans, have been a virtual roller coaster of highs and lows. Unfortunately, though, the lows have been altogether far more prevalent than the highs.
Having experienced a demoralizing 0-3 loss to Bangladesh in the preceding ODI Home Series, the West Indies team’s fans would not have had much reason to be at all optimistic about the possibilities for any favourable improvements of its fortunes against the much stronger Indians. Albeit as weakened as they may have been by the absence of no less than four of their frontline players.
Yet, most surprisingly, the West Indies performed well beyond all expectations in the first two ODI’s played at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad on July 22 and 24th respectively, coming incredibly close to winning both matches. The West Indies lost the first ODI by a very slim margin of just three runs. The margin of defeat in the second ODI was just as close. India won by two wickets off the fourth ball of the 50th and final over.
Following the unexpected closeness of those results and the highly commendable performances with bat, ball and in the field by various participating members of the West Indies team, the emotions of its fans were decidedly as highly positive as they have ever been at any stage since the beginning of this current year. Buoyant enthusiasm would have been the apt description for such emotions. Fuelled as they were by the most welcoming experience of witnessing, in both matches, West Indian totals of more than 300 being posted by batsmen who each time also admirably made full use of the available fifty overs.
That experienced elation, however, proved to be disappointingly short-lived as the West Indies then crashed to an ignominious defeat in the July 27th third and final ODI, losing by a Duckworth/Lewis adjusted margin of 119 runs in the rain-affected match. The pain of that defeat was then further compounded just two days later by the loss of the first T20I, the margin of defeat on that occasion being a sizeable 68 runs. The West Indies in replying to India’s challenging posted twenty-overs total of 190/6, only managed to get as far as 122/8 off their allocated overs.
From the experienced despair of witnessing such a lopsided loss, the emotions of the West Indies teams fans were then again sent soaring to delirious heights with a sensational record-breaking performance by the St Vincent-born left-arm seamer Obed McCoy in the second T20I, which was played on Monday, August 1st at St Kitts’ Warner Park Stadium. McCoy celebrated the Caribbean Region’s August 1 Emancipation Day observation with figures of 6/17-4 overs to help restrict India to a paltry first strike total of 138/10-20 overs. Chasing 139 for victory at a manageable required run rate of marginally under 7, the West Indies almost embarrassingly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory before they thankfully got past the target off the second ball of the final over, posting 141/5 to win comfortably in the end by five wickets with four balls to spare.
The significance of McCoy’s performance was that, against the backdrop of impending World Cups in both the T20 and ODI formats, it now serves as a confirmation of the West Indies’ essential possession of a highly proficient white-ball seam bowler. He has shown himself to be fully capable of taking opposition wickets in the crucial first power play overs at the start of an innings. He has also demonstrated the art of being sufficiently economical and wicket-taking productive in the typically high scoring overs at the death of an innings.
Notwithstanding McCoy’s heroics, provided reasons for joyous elation followed just as quickly by those for lowly disappointment had by then become the established pattern of emotions among most West Indian fans. So said, so done as the West Indies batsmen faltered yet again in the August 2nd third T2OI posting an inadequate first strike twenty-overs total of 164/5 that was never going to be overly challenging for India’s highly talented batting lineup. The Indians comfortably restored their superiority, coasting to a seven-wicket victory with three balls to spare to lead the five-match Series by 2-1 with the remaining two scheduled USA-hosted matches still to be played on August 6th and 7th.
At the time of writing whether those matches would actually be played within the USA as scheduled, however, remained in significant doubt as a result of the Indian players not having as yet been granted the required travel visas. The global embarrassment caused by the demonstrated administrative incompetence by those charged with managing the affairs of West Indies cricket was just the most recent in a series of highly unwelcomed occurrences that also occurred during the latter days of the July 22 – August 2 period. There was also an extended delay to the start of the St Kitts hosted August 1 second T20I, because of the untimely arrival of some of the players’ luggage.
As if both of those developments weren’t embarrassing enough, there was then the surprising and most shocking July 31 announcement by the star West Indies Women’s cricket all-rounder Deandra Dottin of her immediate retirement from international cricket. Now aged just 31, with years of cricket seemingly still ahead of her, Dottin’s announcement of her retirement was universally received among West Indian cricket fans as most surprising and disappointing news. For the beleaguered Cricket West Indies (CWI), coming as it did mere hours after the experienced India T2oI Series luggage and visa issues had been made public, it was a further major embarrassment as the widely respected, globally admired, Dottin’s cited reason for her sudden retirement was a “negative team environment!”
The West Indies US-based fans, as well as those from within the region and further abroad who had already purchased their tickets and made the necessary arrangements to attend the final two encounters of the India T20I Series, will be hoping for a resolution of the experienced visa issues in such a timely manner as to allow the matches to be played as scheduled. They will also be hoping for the team to perform in a manner that would lead to victory in both matches hence clinching the Series or at worst in one of the two for a much better sounding 2-3 loss than the 1-4 margin that would result if both were lost.
Almost immediately following the India Series, the West Indies will entertain New Zealand in three Sabina Park Jamaica-hosted T20Is and an exact number of ODI’s to be played at Barbados’ famed Kensington Oval, the acknowledged mecca of Caribbean cricket. The three ODI’s against New Zealand will be particularly significant as their results will have direct points bearing on the West Indies’ quest for automatic qualification for next year’s 2023 India-hosted ICC World Cup.
Only the eight top-ranked ICC teams will be granted automatic 2023 World Cup qualification. The three New Zealand Series matches will be the very last opportunities the West Indies will have to gain valuable points towards that objective.
Eight more white ball matches to be played within the next month, the combined effect of which will undoubtedly be to present even further occasions for additional roller coaster-like emotional highs and lows among West Indian cricket fans. At least among those that still care somewhat about the team’s fortunes and who haven’t by now become understandably indifferent to its continuous fluctuations!