On paper there appeared no room for optimism as inconsistent Irish form faced a team brimming with talent and eager to announce a new era of Caribbean supremacy. But media speculation means nothing when it comes to competition and it is what happens on the field that determines winners and losers. Ireland rose masterfully to the occasion and fully deserved their victory on merit. It was not earned on the back of a poor West Indies performance as some “experts” would have us believe, it was earned by tigerish fielding and bowling and a magnificent chase by the batsmen.
Ironically the Ireland victory will not come as a surprise to many cricket followers in the Caribbean as they have long lost faith with a regional team that flatters to deceive and over the last two decades has largely under-achieved. There are many reasons for the demise of West Indies test cricket, but there will be no satisfactory explanation for under performance in the shorter versions of the game where Caribbean players appear tailor-made for instant cricket. After all, the exploits of Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo are renowned in the IPL and Big Bash circuses, and their performances have made them cricket millionaires many times over. The tragedy for West Indies cricket is that they have not shown the same enthusiasm for their country and when Pollard and Bravo were left out of this World Cup squad Chairman of Selectors Clive Lloyd claimed it was time to blood new players and try something different. Some people felt the omissions were ‘punishment’ for the role Bravo and Pollard played in the aborted India tour, but Lloyd claimed otherwise. However this result will do nothing to support his new strategy as the Pollard and Bravo supporters will claim it threw a lifeline to teams like Ireland to take advantage. Lloyd will have his critics, but the greatest enigma remains the belligerent, but inconsistent Gayle, although it would be a brave selector to drop the mighty Jamaican.
West Indian woes won’t worry William Porterfield’s squad who can deservedly take great pleasure in their success, but it might place more pressure on the National Coach’s position if Ireland continues to steal the limelight. It is no secret that Phil Simmons has many admirers as a coach in the West Indies and this victory will do his CV no harm going forward. When the West Indies Cricket Board finally gets down to appointing a new coach rest assured the former Trinidadian all-rounder’s name will be on the short-list!
But has Ireland once again spoiled the ICC script? To see an Associate country defeat a test playing country is great for the overall profile of cricket, but the ICC Chiefs have already stated the next World Cup will have only ten teams with eight automatic positions for the top test countries. That means Ireland must qualify in a tough tournament involving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, which allows no recognition for the achievements of the Irish team over the past 15 years. The ICC continues to run a closed shop and while it may claim to promote and develop cricket all over the world, it doesn’t want to change the hierarchy and worse still it offers countries like Ireland only limited opportunities to play against the big boys.
This memorable victory has given Irish cricket another day in the sun and let’s hope there are more to follow in this World Cup. We can then write our own script in the process!
Clarence Hiles
Editor
