The 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) One Day International (ODI) World Cup bowled off last Thursday (October 5) in Ahmedabad, India.
This marks the 13th edition of the tournament in which the West Indies won the first two back in 1975 and 1979 and were defeated in the final of the third four years later in 1983, all at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in England. It is notable that the West Indies have failed to make it to the final of the Cricket World Cup since 1983. Some 40 years later, there is no West Indies participating in the Cricket World Cup. Yes, how they played the qualifiers to gain entry into the World Cup is strange but not surprising.
Somebody likened the West Indies not playing in the World Cup to that of Brazil not qualifying for a FIFA World Cup. Really? Since the golden era of Pelé and his great squad, I have witnessed some not-so-great Brazilian squads. But they were never in danger of not qualifying for a World Cup. If, by some anomaly, this were destined to happen, the Brazilian Football Confederation would take decisive action, and even if they scraped through, bet your last dollar that they would be participating.
The writing was on the wall with some poor performances by this current 50-over West Indies team for a while. There were only a handful of players playing to their ability and the powers that be felt they would have just had to turn up, and they would have qualified together with the other favourites in the qualifiers - Sri Lanka. A serious lesson was dished out to the West Indies team, and when they could not emerge victorious against Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Scotland, they deserved to be flying back home rather than to India. Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise that they have not qualified for the World Cup.
Let us look at the scores of the first two games of the Sri Lankan team. In their first game against South Africa, the South Africans amassed a record total in a World Cup game of 428 for 5 with three centurions - Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and the fastest-ever 100 in a World Cup game from just 49 balls by Aiden Markram. Even though Sri Lanka made a fighting 326, they were never in the chase.
In Sri Lanka’s second game against Pakistan, they made a better total of 344 for 9. They must have felt they were in with a chance of victory against a Pakistan team that was bowled out in their first game vs the Netherlands for 286, but cricket does not work by scores in previous games. It depends on the day, the state of the pitch, the weather conditions and the all-round strength of the opposition.
Unsurprisingly, Pakistan hunted down the stiff target, and the Sri Lankans were given a sound lesson in modern one-day cricket. The Pakistanis won the game by six wickets with a score of 345 for 4, the highest-ever chase in a World Cup game.
Remember, this Sri Lanka team came through the qualifiers as the number one team ahead of the West Indies, and both South Africa and Pakistan achieved batting records against them. It is better for West Indies cricket that the regional team failed to qualify. The way things are shaping up and with records falling at any given time, thankfully, West Indies fans can watch the games in peace and comfort wherever they would be and not have to worry about records being broken against the West Indies bowlers or poor batting performances by their batsmen based on their abysmal showing in the qualifiers.
The selectors should be paying close attention to the Super 50 tournament being played right here in Trinidad from Tuesday (October 17) at the Queen’s Park Oval, the Brian Lara Cricket Academy and UWI Spec in St Augustine. This is an excellent opportunity for a change of guard. As I have previously articulated, it is time for them to look at some young blood, especially if the seasoned campaigners don’t come up to scratch. I have said all along the West Indies has not qualified with the so-called ‘big name’ players. Now must be the time to give some new faces an opportunity, as the next World Cup will be in the African continent in 2027. An effective use of not participating this time will be rebuilding the squads.
With the ongoing World Cup, I don’t have any real country to win it. India must start as favourites because they are playing in their backyard. Their supporters will act as their 12th man, and on the pitches where they will play, they should help their spinners. The Australians struggled with the bat in Chennai and only mustered 199 in 49.3 overs, with the Indian spinners picking up six wickets. Steve Smith was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja with a beauty of a delivery that looked like a pitch on a fifth-day Test match the way it turned. Outside of the Afghanistan versus Bangladesh game, the teams have been scoring in excess of 275 runs, so is it that the Indians bowled particularly well, or the Aussies bat poorly? Time will tell.
Outside of India, I believe that any one of the five can win the Cup. New Zealand started superbly by thrashing England and then not raising a sweat to defeat the Netherlands. They seem a confident bunch, and with Kane Williamson to come into the team, they can certainly go all the way. Pakistan did not bat well against the Netherlands but came good against Sri Lanka, and Babar Azam is due for a big score. They did not bowl as tight as they should against Sri Lanka, but they will improve and show up when it matters most. South Africa massacred Sri Lanka, but we will see just how good they are when they play Australia on Thursday (today). It will be a real test for them.
England lost to New Zealand, but that was in the opening game, so I expect the English to improve, and they are another team that has it in them to go all the way. Ben Stokes came out of ODI retirement to make himself available as a specialist batsman for the World Cup, and with him back in the mix, England will be dangerous. Australia will want to claim the loss to India was a small hiccup in their quest for a sixth ODI World Cup, but again, Thursday's (today's) game against South Africa will tell a huge story.
Pick your winner from those six. Difficult, isn’t it? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe next week, I can more comfortably narrow down the field. Enjoy!
Editor’s note - The views expressed in the preceding article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.
