How Windies lost their crown to Wizards of Oz

Though the West Indies lost that home series 2-1, to an Australia greatly inspired by Steve Waugh, the rot had set in much earlier. If not at Lord’s on a June evening in 1983, then at the next World Cup, when they failed to even make the semi-finals.

They continued winning but only just, and they were not helped by the quality of players. Eldine Baptiste and Clyde Butts were blooded in easy series against India and Pakistan in the late 1980s but the only good find was Winston Benjamin.

The last great discovery was as far back as 1990 — Brian Lara, of course.

And in 1991 was the last great West Indies team: Haynes, Greenidge, Richardson, Richards, Logie, Hooper, Dujon, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop/Patterson. That team ended on a losing note, at home to Australia (though they won the series). That prompted a mass exodus of stars — Richards, Greenidge, Logie and Marshall — in the same year (1991) and a subsequent slump in form of Desmond Haynes. The team that went to England that year managed a creditable draw but the wins were becoming less frequent.

Again, it was down to personnel. Though Ambrose and Walsh carried the bowling on their shoulders, Phil Simmons, Stuart Williams and Sherwin Campbell were not worthy successors to Haynes and Greenidge.

The captaincy passed on to Richie Richardson, who made a hash of it as West Indies missed out on the finals of the World Series in Australia 1991-92 and finished sixth in the subsequent World Cup.

It was pretty much downhill from there. The Indian tour in 1994-95 was a disaster and, from the Australian series that followed, they’ve been in freefall.

They started losing to Australia on a regular basis and holding off teams such as India and England at home became too much of a task. Richardson’s sudden retirement after the 1996 World Cup left them without a leader. By the time Brian Lara became the skipper, he had lost whatever remained of the great West indian side too.

What’s the message for Australia? Simple: Every great team has to call it a day sometime. By the time Australia finish defending the World Cup in 2007, half their side will be in their mid-30s. Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden have already announced their retirement after that tournament; Warne, Langer, Martyn, even Ponting will be long in the tooth.

It’s to be seen whether the likes of Hussey, Clarke, Lee and Katich can keep the flag flying. Or whether some other team will be able to pick up the baton.