27 all out: Another signpost of West Indian cricket’s decline in Tests

A Test innings lasting 14.3 overs and producing a total of 27 runs, with seven ducks. Even given the terminal decline that West Indies cricket has found itself in for close to two decades, the team's capitulation to Australia in their third and final Test in Jamaica has been appalling.  

It was meant to be a ‘realistic’ target of 204 on the third day of the Test according to captain Roston Chase, which would have given the Caribbeans a chance to prevent a 3-0 whitewash. Mitchell Starc, however, proved too hot for Chase’s men as he removed three batters in a sensational maiden first over to eventually end with a career-best six for nine and cross the 400-wicket mark.

The way three of the top order batters — John Campbell, Kevlon Anderson and Brandon King — looked simply clueless against Starc raises questions about the former cricket superpower’s ability to survive a five-day Test. The West Indies have struggled to field a consistent Test team in recent years — with several frontline players often prioritising lucrative franchise cricket over the longest format — and truth be told, are perceived as the whipping boys of world cricket now.

They currently rank eight out of 12 Test teams in the world, while their next trial could again be spin against India during a two-Test series in October.

This was the West Indies’ lowest Test total and the second-lowest overall after New Zealand’s 26 all out in 1955 — a humiliation which has been too much for former skipper Carl Hooper and ex-Twenty20 captain Carlos Brathwaite to digest. Hooper, who was part of the team's golden phase from 1987 to 2002 and played 102 Tests, looked devastated during a chat show on ABC Sport.

‘’Cricket West Indies, I really think a few heads should roll for this because they’ve made some decisions and this is the result of those decisions,’’ Hooper said. ‘’They’ve made some wholesale changes, massive changes, that I think wasn't needed.

‘’To make wholesale changes and then get results like this, Cricket West Indies have got to hold up their hands and be held accountable,’’ said Hooper.

‘’Abysmal comes to mind,’’ said Brathwaite, who famously hit four sixes in a row in the final over from Ben Stokes in the 2016 World Cup final against England to power West Indies to the title.

Speaking after being whipped 3-0 by Australia, current skipper Roston Chase said: ‘’It’s disappointing, we’ve been putting ourselves in positions to win games and then we just lay down and don’t put up a fight in the last batting innings.

‘’It’s quite heartbreaking because we did it in all three Tests, and we’re not really learning from our mistakes, so that's something we have to really look at. Being bowled out for less than 30 is quite embarrassing and something that you don’t want as a team, but it’s beyond us now, so we have to just try to improve from here.’’