Save West Indies cricket: Caribbean legends walk the talk in India

It must have been quite a sight for cricket romantics in India to see three giants of West Indies cricket — Sir Vivian Richards, Richie Richardson and Brian Lara make up a threesome for photographers in Mumbai on Tuesday. They are on a mission this time: to attract potential investors for Caribbean cricket as well as to give a pep talk to Roston Chase & Co. ahead of their second Test against India, beginning in the capital on Friday.

On social media, Lara posted: ‘’I’m here in India with two legendary West Indian cricketers, Sir Viv and Sir Richie on a mission to engage with sponsors and media giants who shape the game we all love. What’s most inspiring is that despite all they’ve achieved, their passion for West Indies cricket still burns as bright as ever. That pride, that purpose, still drives them.

‘’We rejoiced together, we cried together. The key is we have to plan to rise together again,’’ said the Prince of Trinidad as the legends are walking the talk with a plan to energise the sport in the Caribbean again. It’s a fallout of the huddle which the West Indies greats were a part of after their humiliating 3-0 whitewash against Australia few months back — with the 27 all out in the third day-night Test in Kingston, Jamaica witnessing a new low.

Cricket West Indies formed a ‘Cricket strategy and officiating committee,’ which included legends like Clive Lloyd, Richards, Desmond Haynes and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul. While they were unanimous that financial resources was the need of the hour, Lara felt that the current team needed to show more passion when they wore the maroon cap rather than offer excuses. The visiting team received a drubbing by an innings and 140 runs inside three days in the first Test at Ahmedabad and the task is cut out for them to buck the trend in Delhi.

Speaking on the sidelines of Ceat Cricket Awards where he was honoured on Tuesday night, Lara said: ‘’ We are going to rush across to Delhi to have a little chat with the boys. You know, it’s always tough for any country to play in India and beat India. But we want to be able to be competitive. So hopefully, we can get a competitive game in the next match.”

At a time when calls have been getting louder to field separate national teams based on the identity of the islands, Lara stood firm as a mascot of the unified regional team in international cricket. “That (separate national team) is going to be tested in things like the Pan Am Games, the Olympics. The West Indies cannot be a representative cricket team in those tournaments. We are from a population of about five or six million people and the sport, obviously, has been diluted with the advent of other sports and interests,” Laara added.

“But I still believe that the strength of West Indies lies in that unified team. And I would like to see that continue. The issue now is that, there is a lot more that’s happening in world cricket. There are more opportunities for our youngsters. And with that, again, it’s going to weaken our strength. But we are all disappointed (with the results). We are perennial favourites around the world, and we are all disappointed in the way things have turned out.

“I don’t see going our separate ways as being the answer. But again, there is going to be a lot of national interest in cricket come the Olympics, the Pan Am Games, where individual countries are going to be involved,” he said.