Yesterday’s five wicket defeat of the national side by the Windward Islands in the second round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional 4-Day competition is cause for concern. What makes the defeat particularly galling is that almost the entire first day’s play was lost to rain yet the Windwards still managed to triumph an hour after lunch on yesterday’s fourth and final day. Those looking for excuses can point to the fact that the team was not at full strength missing Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who is participating in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who is at home and who opted out of the team for reasons known only to himself.
They might also argue, and rightfully so, that the team did not have proper preparation before the tournament mainly