by Sham Samaroo
Saturday, March 9, 2002

In the past few years the demise of West Indies cricket has given much cause for concern not only in the Caribbean but also in the rest of the cricket world. And each time we hear the same sorry excuses: poor fitness, lack of mental toughness, too many rookies at once, mediocre bowling, lack of consistency in batting, blah, blah, blah.

Now, don't get me wrong, these are all valid points, but they are not the real reason for such a consistently poor showing. They are only symptoms of the greater malaise that infects West Indian cricket - an absence of heroes.

Actually, it's not so much an absence of heroes, more that West Indies have failed to treasure them. They have not given due recognition or respect to their giants of the game. And without a strong and constant reminder of those incredible accomplishments today's youngsters have no-one to admire or seek to emulate. Ignorance of their history and tradition as a great and proud cricket team is the real reason behind West Indies' pathetically poor performances in recent years.

Just look at the Australians. They turned Sir Donald Bradman into a legend. I am sure every schoolboy in Australia has a pretty good idea who The Don was and what he achieved. That is as it should be. Bradman deserves every single accolade that was showered on him. But why haven't the West Indies done the same with Sir Garry Sobers? He is arguably the most talented cricketer ever to grace the game. His name ought to be a household word on the lips of every child in the West Indies.

And look at the way the Aussies idolise Dennis Lillee. He took 355 wickets in 70 Tests at an average of 23.92. But haven't the Windies their own Lillee, in Malcolm Marshall? He took 376 wickets in 81 Tests at an average of 20.94. If anyone deserves legendary status it is Marshall, who was part of Test cricket's greatest pace attack, along with Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts and Colin Croft.

These are the heroes that young West Indian fast bowlers ought to have in their sights. But the truth is that many of them do not even know who these players are. What is it that continues to motivate and stir Glenn McGrath to higher feats? It's the desire to be compared to his idol, Lillee. Or Brett Lee - he wants to challenge Jeff Thomson as Australia's fastest bowler. Let's face it: Lee is not a truly great bowler, but he happens to come from a country that honours its heroes, and so gives him something to aspire to.

Recently Marshall departed from this world, but no great fuss was made, and no scholarships or awards have been set up in his memory. That is a shame that as West Indians, we must all live with. We don't honour our heroes. So why should our youngsters want to be cricketers? What is there to hope for, to aspire to, or to treasure?

Today Sri Lankans and Australians quite rightly laud the achievements of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne. We are all waiting eagerly to see which of them will break Courtney Walsh's Test-wickets record. But long before Warne or Murali came on the scene it was Lance Gibbs who held the record, with 309 wickets. He passed Fred Trueman's 12-year-old record early in 1976, and held it until Lillee passed it.

Until recently no other spinner in the history of the game had ever crossed the 300 mark except Gibbs. Yet how many young and aspiring spinners in the West Indies know that? Today's youngsters have no idea of the remarkable accomplishments of their predecessors and, therefore, are not motivated to scale those heights. That is the reason why so many of them, after an impressive debut, fall by the wayside. Simply making the West Indies Test team seems to be their goal. Once there, they feel that there is nothing left for them to accomplish. They have made it. It is the arrogance of ignorance.

When Chris Gayle goes out to open the innings, does he really understand the honour that has been bestowed upon him? Does he truly appreciate being compared to Roy Fredericks? In fact does he know who Fredericks was? I'm sure he has heard the name, but does he actually know that this was the man who single-handedly murdered Lillee and Thommo for a blistering 169 at Perth - the haven of fast bowlers - at the height of their careers?

Or take Ramnaresh Sarwan. In 2000, the English commentators likened him to Rohan Kanhai. That is surely the greatest accolade Sarwan will ever receive. But does he really understand that? Can he understand it? I have nothing but respect and admiration for Sarwan. The very first time I saw him, I felt that he was one of the most talented youngsters around. But the point is, do our children really know who Rohan Kanhai is? Kanhai was arguably the greatest exponent of the art of batsmanship that ever took the crease. OK, so he was not as elegant or correct as Tendulkar, nor was he an accumulator of runs like Border or Gavaskar. But he was a genius, whose feats can only be talked about with glowing admiration.

And finally, let's look at Reon King. When King is given the new ball does he truly appreciate the honour? Does King know that he is, literally, following in the footsteps of the magnificent Courtney Walsh - the world-record holder and a true gentleman in every sense of the word? And Curtly Ambrose, and Marshall, and Roberts and Holding and Croft, and Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith ...

Every paper you open, every website you visit, every discussion you sit in on, you find the Aussies singing their favourite tune - that their present team is the greatest ever. Get a life. Can they really be compared to Clive Lloyd's all-conquering 1980s team? I am willing to place a bet (better make that a friendly bet, as ICC is pretty serious about that sort of thing these days). If the two teams ever met I'd say that Lloyd's side would trounce these Aussies every day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

But what do we know of that great West Indian team? How much has been written about them? Zero, zilch ... or not much, anyway. So how can you expect today's youngsters to have that strength of conviction, that determination to fight, when they are ignorant of their own history and past accomplishments. It is not solely the West Indian Board that is at fault here. No, it is an entire culture, an entire society that must share the blame - our politicians, our novelists and poets, our sportswriters, our teachers. In a word, everyone who is in a position to praise, worship, elevate and venerate our stars ... but have failed to do so.

Recently, a friend told me that the one and only publication devoted to West Indian cricket - the Caribbean Quarterly, edited by the respected Tony Cozier - will no longer be published. Great. Another nail in the coffin of West Indian cricket.

Sham Samaroo was born in Guyana and has been a high school teacher in New York for the past 16 years. He works to promote cricket in America, and is vice-chairman of the National Schools' Cricket Program in New York.

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