Everything passed in their favour from the 50s till the early 90s.The great Sir Garfield Sobers, Clive Lloyd, Alexander, Sir Vivian Richards, Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall were the names that one used to listen so often in an earlier era. No doubt they were all classic players, Sobers being considered all-time best all-rounder and also the best batsman after Sir Donald Bradman, Vivian being the best one-day batsman-in fact the most aggressive batsman ever born-while Holding, often named "Whispering Death" is considered the most accomplished fast bowler to grace the game of cricket.
A side featuring Richie Richardson, Brian Lara, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop to name a few, laid down arms in front of the in fant Kenyans in the 1996 World Cup. And since then, losing series both Test and One-day have become a routine. Even though within this time the world did witness some heroics by the West Indian individuals but as a team they were on the decline.
Brian Lara's world record of 375 runs, Walsh's record of 519 Test wickets (still the highest for any fast bowler), Brian Lara's, single handed, knocks of 213 and 153 not out against Australia in 1999 to level the Test series, a world record chase of 417 runs against Australia in 2003 and most recent first quadruple century by Brian Lara were the only few admirable moments which the West Indian cricket team has provided to their fans. Otherwise, as stated earlier, losing so frequently has become a norm.
They were mercilessly defeated 5-0 in 1999 by South Africa, were defeated after 18 years by the English in 2000-01 Test series in England, again defeated by the Britons this year in their own country for the first time in 36 years, bowled out for a mere 47 against England this year in home series, and all out for only 53 runs in a one-dayer against South Africa this year, are evidences of the fact that the Windies are placed so low on the ICC official rankings.
One could have easily deduced in this period of time that the West Indies lacked the basics. If the bowling department performed their task as required, the batsmen let them down by not rising to the occasion and in other cases the batsmen performed their jobs efficiently only to see later that their bowlers were thrashed. It all continued and still continues - albeit they now have got promising players in the form of Gayle, Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Edwards, Lawson and Rampal but they still have a long way to go.
I read somewhere that the West Indies suffered the setback because they didn't invest on the grass-root levels, but sorry, I don't agree with this view. The fall was firstly, due to downswing in morale among the players due to defeats, secondly, the exclusion of the veterans in quick succession that no appropriate replacement was available e.g. the departure of Ambrose and Walsh within a year, the retirement of Simmons, Stuart Williams, Adams and Hooper etc. I think that this should have been done in a more systematic manner, like the arrival of Simmons as opener after the departure of Greenidge, the arrival of Ambrose and Walsh after Garner and Roberts left the scene and the take-over of responsibility of Richardson as a classic player after Vivian Richards left the world of cricket.
The reason for which I do not agree to the deduction of those who find investment as the key factor in the decline of the West Indies is that, if there was no proper basis for the youngsters to groom up then how did players like Christopher Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Fidel Edwards, Omari Banks, Jermaine Lawson, Ravi Rampal and Tino Best etc. were performing impressively at the international level? The fault is not there in investment. The fault is natural one and that of experience. They are young players, need time to again experience and we can hope to see them turning the tables in favour of their side.
Thus, I would lay stress on the rule of sports involving teams i.e. "You should rise as a unit to win, otherwise extraordinary performances from individuals would be needed to win games-which usually do not come so often", contribution needs to come from every corner, everyone should show responsibility. You would agree to the universally acknowledged fact " History repeats itself".
If that's the case, what future do you anticipate for the present nearly invincible, as most of us would call, World Champions viz. the Australians?