NOTE: Tony Cozier is indisposed. In place of his usual column, we carry an article by ANAND VASU, Managing Editor, Wisden India, that appeared in his magazine on Friday. It provides a neutral perspective on the current state of West Indies cricket.
There’s an invisible force driving West Indies cricket at the moment. There’s something happening with that team that is holding the people of several different countries together, and causing them to do some outrageous things on a cricket ground. And we’re not referring to Chris Gayle’s Gangnam Style celebratory jig.
In the last few months, West Indies have gone from being a team that was ridiculed by those who clung on to a golden past to a team that is showing signs of a brighter future. The team has gone from being one that stronger opponents encourage in a patronising manner to a side that has struck fear into the best units around.
For years, West Indies did not produce one cricketer who nailed down a place,