Year of the West Indies

This has been a most remarkable year for the West Indies. The men’s, women’s and under-19 teams have lit up world cricket, winning every premier event on offer — and this, despite a long-standing pay dispute between some of the region’s best players and the West Indies Cricket Board. Darren Sammy and others in his squad almost did not travel to India for the World Twenty20; they didn’t have West Indies Cricket Board contracts. >Sammy said in his brave, moving victory address that every step was a struggle, that even something as routine as obtaining proper uniforms needed the team manager to work against the clock. Yet, the West Indies harnessed this sense of being wronged: in establishing an us-against-the-world dynamic, perceiving slights even when none was intended, and dedicating the effort to the Caribbean people, the side found a greater cause. The talent was never in question. The team had a collection of devastating power-hitters, many of whom could create chances with the ball and in the field; it also had Samuel Badree, the most effective bowler in the shortest format. And these were not merely skilful cricketers. They were also shrewd competitors, hardened in various professional T20 leagues. The parallel with Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in Australia is obvious. In the late-1970s, the finest natural talent was tempered in the toughest fires, forging a West Indies unit of utter dominance. Over the last few years, the most sought-after free agents have developed in the unforgiving air of franchise cricket, including in the Caribbean, forming the ultimate fantasy T20 team.

Tournaments are remembered by their final acts, and there have been few as brutal and breathtaking as Carlos Brathwaite’s four successive last-over sixes. They contained within them everything that makes West Indies cricket so singular: thrilling physical talent, but the even rarer ability to relax from the doubting, conscious mind and let instinct take over. It is this knack of staying in the moment that resonates strongest with fans, hooking them for life. It is difficult to detect in the fog of competition. But it’s more readily apparent in their unrestrained celebrations. The >women’s and under-19 teams showed a similar gift for letting go — it clinches tournaments, for it is the best antidote to pressure. It is also the reason the West Indies continues to turn out match-winners. But unless there is a professional structure in place in the Caribbean — or at least one that does not undermine cricketers — success will be sporadic. England will no doubt be heartbroken, given how close it was in the end. Unlike the West Indies, however, it has fewer systemic problems. Besides, the team showed it can play fearless, new-age cricket when liberated from the heavy yoke of conservatism. Few experts predicted a West Indies-England final, for the tournament had looked India’s to lose. M.S. Dhoni’s men began strong favourites in conditions they know very well, and Virat Kohli did everything in his power to keep it that way. But like others before them, they simply could not resist the West Indian surge.