MUMBAI: “West Indies should be barred from Test cricket”
This shocking statement has come from former Australian captain Kim Hughes. It came in the wake of their humiliating innings and 65 runs defeat to Australia in the opening Test in Brisbane.
Hughes said the Caribbeans’ shoddy performance was a poor advertisement for Test cricket, which is already battling against dwindling spectator interest.
In a hard-hitting article in “The Daily Telegraph” he further says: “It’s good for Australia to be winning, but this is not good for Test cricket. We should have countries that play only limited-overs cricket such as the West Indies and Bangladesh until such time as they are worthy of playing Test cricket.”
Wait Mr. Hughes, why are you in such a hurry to instantly belittle a cricketing conglomerate that has traditionally been a great force in world cricket. And that after just one dismal show. He must remember that the West Indies is not just one country but promotes a squad made up of players drawn for several different islands in the region. Also, while cricket is wallowing in wealth, it is not so in the Caribbean and differences and other problems are bound to creep in. This is no reflection on the ability of individual players, some of who are amongst the best in the game.
All their leading players have just come back after a conflict with the game’s governing body. It was their “B” team that represented the West Indies in the last three months, including the Champions Trophy. The players who have hardly had any cricket for that long take time to settle down. Has no other team gone through such a depression before?
Kim Hughes forgets the fact that it was because of the large-scale exodus of all the leading players to the Kerry Packer circus that he got his chance to lead a weak Australian side on the tour of India. Australia too went through a lean patch and took time to recover. No one condemned him or the Aussie team then, as he has himself done now.
Hughes also shifts his track and berates the Windies skipper Chris Gayle who had created a storm sometime ago by saying that he would not cry if Test cricket died. So many cricketers have expressed their own opinion on the future of Test cricket. Whatever it is, Test cricket would certainly die if you banish exciting talent that the West Indies team invariably provides.
It is not for me to say that cricket is a funny game. In a previous Test, Sri Lanka score over 700 runs and next, an inning and 144 runs by India beat them.
