West Indian cricket team

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The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as The Windies, is a national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of English-speaking Caribbean countries. The team is administrated by the West Indies Cricket Board. In their early days in the 1930s, the side represented the British colonies of the West Indies Federation plus British Guyana. The current side represents the now independent states of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, and the British dependencies of Anguilla and Montserrat.

Related Topics:
Cricket - Caribbean - West Indies Cricket Board - West Indies Federation - Antigua and Barbuda - Barbados - Dominica - Grenada - Guyana - Jamaica - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Trinidad and Tobago - Anguilla - Montserrat

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National teams also exist for the various different islands, which, as they are all separate countries, very much keep their local identities and support their local favourites. These national teams take part in the West Indian first-class competition, the Carib Beer Cup (earlier known as the Busta Cup, Shell Shield and various other names). It is also common for other international teams to play the island teams for warm-up games without status as an official international match (a Test), before they take on the combined West Indies team.

Related Topics:
First-class - Carib Beer Cup - Test

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The West Indies joined the sport's international ruling body, the Imperial Cricket Council, in 1928, and played their first official international match, which in cricket is called a Test, in 1930. Although blessed with some great players such as Learie Constantine in their early days as a Test nation, their successes remained sporadic until the 1960s, by which time the side had changed from a white-dominated to a black-dominated side. By the 1970s the West Indies had a side recognised as unofficial world champions, a title they retained throughout the 1980s. During these glory years the Windies were noted for their four-man pace attack, backed up by some of the best batsmen in the world, including Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd The 1980s saw them set a then-record streak of 11 consecutive Test victories in 1984 and inflict two 5-0 "blackwashes" against the old enemy of England. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, however, West Indian cricket declined, in part due to the rise in popularity of basketball, athletics and soccer in West Indian countries, and the team today is struggling to regain its past glory. Although the West Indies are still able to get good results at youth level, this success is not repeated at senior level, and there has been much criticism of the training regime employed by the West Indies from senior ex-players, including the West Indies greatest all-rounder, Sir Garry Sobers.

Related Topics:
Learie Constantine - Viv Richards - Clive Lloyd - 1984 - England - Basketball - Soccer - All-rounder - Garry Sobers

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