Golden Time of Cricket Teams: West Indies 1975-1984

Gone are the days when West Indies aka Windies reigned the ODI cricket in its early days. Those were the days when an ODI match was of 60 overs, without any power plays and fielding restrictions. Holding a red ball, Men dressed in white played the first world cup in 1975 where West Indies under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd lofted the first World Cup trophy.

West Indies during 1975-1984 was one team that was always a hard nut to crack for all the cricketing nations. Windies were blessed with legendary players like Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Rohan Kanhai, Michael Holding, Collis King and Desmond Haynes. All these players who rose from the Caribbean have registered profuse golden memories of the glorious days they spent entertaining the spectators on the cricket grounds – the defeat of Aussies in the 1975 world cup final was not less than stupendous and this performance was repeated in 1979 when England lost to West Indies in a pulsating World Cup final match.

Although there was a major hit to West Indies in 1983 world cup final when they lost playing against India, But it is a reality that Windies enjoyed their supremacy as the best ODI team from 1975 to 1984.

Humaira Asad

Best partnerships of West Indies in T20 cricket

T20 is a relatively short format of the game, so weaker teams enjoying playing this format. The same has been the case with the West Indies. Though their achievements in this format aren’t phenomenal, their players have been involved in great partnerships including 145 runs between Gayle and Smith and 133 runs between Gayle and Fletcher. Chris Gayle, the explosive West Indian opener, has been involved in four of the top ten partnerships in T20 for the West Indies. This truly reflects the quality of the batsman.

Partners	Runs	Wkt
CH Gayle, DS Smith	145	1st
CH Gayle, ADS Fletcher	133	1st
DS Smith, S Chanderpaul	95	2nd
DS Smith, S Chanderpaul	84	2nd
CH Gayle, S Chanderpaul	80	1st
RR Sarwan, DJ Bravo	77	5th
RS Morton, D Ramdin	73	7th
KA Pollard, D Ramdin	68	6th
DJ Bravo, S Chanderpaul	68	3rd
CH Gayle, XM Marshall	63	2nd

Best partnerships of West Indies in ODI cricket

The extent of West Indian domination in one day cricket can be judged from the fact that they ruled the format for the first decade after its birth. Despite it being a smaller format as compared to the Test matches, the cricket partnership records for the team are pretty phenomenal. Four of the top 10 partnerships in this best one day partnerships list are 200 runs or more. Such partnerships can play havoc with the confidence of the opposition. No wonder teams have feared the West Indian batting lineup for a long time!

Partners	Runs	Wkt
S Chanderpaul, CL Hooper	226	4th
CG Greenidge, IVA Richards	221	2nd
DL Haynes, IVA Richards	205	2nd
SC Williams, S Chanderpaul	200*	1st
BC Lara, PV Simmons	197	2nd
CG Greenidge, HA Gomes	195*	3rd
CH Gayle, S Chanderpaul	193	1st
CG Greenidge, DL Haynes	192*	1st
CH Gayle, WW Hinds	192	1st
RB Richardson, AL Logie	187	3rd

Best partnerships of West Indies in test cricket

Known as the ‘black storm’ in the 70s and the 80s, the West Indian cricket team has been on a decline ever since. It is therefore no surprise that the best partnerships for the West Indies in Tests have come from people of that era. The 446 run stand between Hunte and Sobers stands at the top of the list of best test partnerships for the West Indies. Other great players like Frank Worrell, Lara, Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes and Chris Gayle also feature in the best partnerships list.

Partners	Runs	Wkt
CC Hunte, GS Sobers	446	2nd
GS Sobers, FMM Worrell	399	4th
DS Atkinson, CC Depeiaza	347	7th
ED Weekes, FMM Worrell	338	3rd
CH Gayle, RR Sarwan	331	2nd
BC Lara, JC Adams	322	5th
RB Richardson, IVA Richards	308	3rd
IVA Richards, AI Kallicharran	303	3rd
CG Greenidge, DL Haynes	298	1st
DL Haynes, RB Richardson	297	2nd

2011 ICC World Cup squad of West Indies

In the recent past, West Indies cricket team clearly struggled with their performance due to their on and off player issues. But this does not imply that they don’t have the potential to create upsets and claim an unpredictable win. It is the same West Indies cricket team who won the World Cup twice in years 1975 and 1979. The downfall of West Indies actually started when they lost to India in 1983 and since then their team has been struggling. But as we see the pattern of big teams performances, we can safely say that West Indies might turn the heads around with their explosive talents in’ 2011 ICC World Cup. The squad of West Indies cricket team has been announced for 2011 ICC World Cup. The players are:

1)      Darren Sammy (Capt)

2)      Chris Gayle

3)      Dwayne Bravo

4)      Darren Bravo

5)      Kieron Pollard

6)      Ramnaresh Sarwan

7)      Devon Smith

8)      Sulieman Benn

9)      Nikita Miller

10)   Shivnarine Chanderpaul

11)   Adrian Barath

12)   Andre Rusell

13)   Kemar Roach

14)   Carlton Baugh

15)   Ravi Rampaul

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