Although the West Indies defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in their first game of the ICC 2019 World Cup last week, their fans are now unhappy because the International Cricket Council (ICC) did not schedule any games for the Caribbean side in London.
A band of die-hard West Indies fans from England vented their frustration over the issue on Monday, saying the West Indies team was 'Windrushed' by the organisers. They argued that the West Indies was the only country among the major cricketing nations which did not to get a match in London.
According to the 2019 World Cup fixtures, the West Indies and Afghanistan were the only teams which were not given matches in London.
The West Indies will play two games at Trent Bridge, two at Southampton, two in Manchester, one in Durham, one in Somerset and one in Leeds.
So the only chance their fans will get to see them in London is if they make it all the way to the final at Lord's on July 14. In contrast, the other eight countries - Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka -, have qualifying games at Lord's and the Kia Oval in London.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports, one of the fans asked: "Is this a case where the West Indies team has been 'Windrushed?'"
The fan, of course, was referring to the Windrush generation controversy which developed last year under the now outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May. In that scenario, the children of West Indian immigrants who have worked and lived in England for decades were threatened with deportation by the Home Office. These children were the descendants of West Indians who were legally brought to the United Kingdom aboard the MV Empire Windrush vessel between 1948 and 1971 to work due to post-war labour shortages.
The angry fan added, "The ICC seems to be against the West Indies, they know that we have tremendous support in London so they decided to send them out all over the country to ensure that we don't have the support. A group of us have decided that we are going to go anywhere they put our boys because we want our team to feel at home.
"Back in the day, the Kia Oval in London was like a home venue for the West Indies. Now we see other teams like South Africa and Bangladesh having two games there. What is really going on"?
Another fan chimed in, saying: "We will get to London don't worry. The only way we can play in London is by reaching the finals and we intend to do just that. We will be at the finals on July 14 and we want England. We want to play England in the finals and we will beat them badly. It is time we remind them who we are. Look at our performance in the first game against Pakistan, that should tell them that we are back and to look out."
After winning their first game against Pakistan by seven wickets at Trent Bridge, the West Indies return to the venue on Thursday to face Australia hoping to get in another good performance.
