In his regular column on the ESPNcricinfo website on May 2, former Australia captain Ian Chappell considered what is required to revive the flagging interest in Test cricket.
One of his suggestions was for a special ICC think-tank to decide how to make those teams in the bottom half of the rankings stronger and more capable of challenging those in the top half. “On the matter of greater competitiveness, the first priority is to ensure West Indies get going again,” Chappell declared. “When playing well they are one of the top draw cards, and Test cricket can’t afford to have them languishing.”
Chappell’s affection for West Indies’ cricket goes back to the unforgettable 1960-61 tour of Australia under Frank Worrell and his own later experiences against teams led by Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd.
As his comment implies, the negative effect of the rapid decline over the past 20 years is comparable to that of Muhammad Ali’s on boxing after his suspension for refusing his US Army draft.
Ali returned to regain the heavyweight title and his reputation. The more I observe and the more I hear from those close to the contemporary players, such as coaches and managers, and from some of the players themselves, the more I am pessimistic that the West Indies can emulate Ali and “get going again” towards being the “the top draw cards” in cricket’s heavyweight division, Test matches.
My concern was eased somewhat by the recent assertion of West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Dave Cameron that his board is convinced that the West Indies’ value is “based on our Test status”; so too by the multi-million dollar plan for a complete professional structure for domestic cricket,