The rise of West Indies? - Inbox at Cricinfo

Chanderpaul is the only West Indies player to have tasted anything but defeat in this period. A closer reading is even more depressing. In the 60 matches that were played across those 17 series, West Indies won just 4, drew 6 ( of which 4 were rain-affected) and lost the other 50 matches. What is most mind-numbing is to recall that West Indies were unbeaten in 27 test series in the preceding 15 years (1980-1995). They fell off a particularly steep cliff didn't they?

There have been a few false dawns in these dark days of West Indies cricket - particularly at home. They have won Test series against Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka , England and New Zealand, and shared one with Australia. Despite the Perth heroics of de Villiers & Co., they still hold the record for the highest 4th innings target chased. Lara has played several memorable innings, Chanderpaul many valiant ones, Courtney Walsh became the leading wicket taker in world cricket and even Chris Gayle has a Test triple hundred. However, with the West Indies, it has seemed every step forward was inevitably followed by three longer ones backward.

That said, there is some reason for cautious optimism in the Chris Gayle era - A first ever Test win in South Africa, a drawn Test series against a decent SL side, a Test series against Australia which was much more competitive than was anticipated, and now this drawn one in New Zealand . Of course the backdrop to this has been the Bradmanesque efforts of the under-appreciated Chanderpaul in this period, but there have been other signs of life - Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor are a handy bowling partnership, Dwayne Bravo is enthusiastic and talented, and the fielding and the general way that the West Indies seem to be going about their business has significantly improved.

There are many areas to fix though, scarcely a series goes by without wrangling between Digicel and Cable and Wireless (although the toxic West Indies Players Association and the obnoxious Dinanath Ramnarine seem to have evaporated), Allen Stanford has funded the game, but muddied the waters, and the regional infighting seems to grow in inverse proportion to the team's performance on the field. Darren Powell shouldn't see the inside of a Test ground again, and surely there must be someone other than Dinesh Ramdin and Carlton Baugh. Chris Gayle needs to find an opening batsman who will be a partner rather than a one-night stand. However this draw against a mediocre New Zealand side may just be the beginning of the era of the era of West Indies submission.

If only that maniac, John Bracewell had been around as NZ coach, the West Indies may even have won it.

Lets hope Windies can rise again. What you said is true. Every single RARE success that windies enjoyed in the past 5 years has been followed by even a greater level of embarassment. The real problem would be when Chanderpaul retires.

Gayle is there. Sarwan has to play to his potential. There should be a good opening partner for gayle (opp. to gayle.....not an attacker, a stayer). Most importantly.......there should be a keeper who knows how to hold bat (or better). I think that is the single weakest point in the team.

Fielding has improved by bounds and leaps over the past few years. Bowling has definitely been on the rise.

Seems the players of Indian origin are okay with sticking around the crease (Chanderpaul, Ganga, Sarwan....actually Nash too) and the others would like to either hit a six or get out.

While I would love to see a resurgent Windies, I wouldn't read too much into their ongoing series against what has got to be the weakest New Zealand side in many years. Remember that it was not too long ago that Pakistan beat the Windies very convincingly in an ODI series.

I do think there has been some improvement in the Windies side over the past 2-3 years, at least when compared to some of the teams they put out in the early 2000s which frankly could be quite terrible. But the fact remains that Windies remains stuck in the 7th-8th position in the Test rankings and it's hard to see them challenging Pakistan or England, let alone some of the stronger sides out there.

If the West Indies were to rise to the top it will take a miracle. As a West Indian, it is very difficult to see our team on top given the type of cricket that is being played. The probelem with the West Indies is that they are stuck in the 1980's. The West Indies were a great team back then but even that team would not survive in this era. The so called "Calypso cricket" worked because of the quality of bowling back then. West Indies batsmen always tried to dominate by batting aggresively. That attitude has not changed but they now face more discipline bowling attacks.

I think what the West Indies need to do is stop being stuck in the past. Their current crop of fast bowlers are good but not in the league of Walsh, Ambrose or Holding...there's no point trying to emulate those guys - the current crop aren't tall enough for a start. What's more, West Indies pitches aren't really conducive to fast bowling anymore (not that any wicket except Barbados ever was, but they've gotten slower for sure). They're going to have to adapt to the modern ways - trying to pitch the ball up, swing it and get wickets. They also need decent spinners...any team with not-so-great quicks needs a more balanced attack, with good spinners. As far the batting is concerned, Chanderpaul, Gayle and Sarwan form a good lineup, but they need real good backup from the others - in other words people who're willing to get stuck in and play the long innings. There's no good trying to emulate Viv Richards...only Viv could play like that. Self-realization is the key for WI cricket right now

It should also be noted that the west indies players needs to change their attitude. For some reason some of their players seem to possess a too much arrogance.Those who saw the Powell/McCallum incident would know what I am talking about.With a bowling average of 46 and a mere 79 wickets, Powell seems to think that no one should hit him for a boundary. Strangely enough Powell does not seem to think that it is probably due to his bad bowling but instead decides to argue with the batman or even pelt the ball at the batman. When a bowler is struggling, he ought to concentrate on his bowling, not chide the batman. I believe intimidating the batman only works when the batman is struggling. Not vice versa. and off course their is a limit. Fidel Edwards and Tino Best to a lesser extent has displayed this sort of behavior. What is worst is that these bowlers contribute nothing when batting. There are only 4 batmen in the WI Team(Gayle, Chanders, Sarwan and Bravo)If these batmen fail all is los

Drawing a test series nagainst a side whose combined test experience is probably less than that of one player e.g. Gayle on the West Indies side. Frankly West Indies had too many players... Gayle, Chanders, Sarwan, even Edwards .... who are more experienced than the oppsoition. West Indies should have won and easily too !!!!
I cannot see West Indies rising any time in the near future. Some of the selections baffle me...e.g. Dale Richards (age 32) even Nash ( age 31 ) ...I mean how many years can you get oyut of these men ? three maybe four and then you're looking for players to fill the breach.
The relegation of Rampaul to the status of an occasional fast bowler for ODIs. The constant use of D.Powell who at age 29 is always referred to as a developing fast bowler by a certain revered regional commentator. I am sorry but at that age you should be DEVELOPED !!!!
Finally there is the need for a GOOD spinner. Not Benn, who is only useful when there is some bounce on the wicket !!