West Indian cricket team

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Fall from the top

It was five more years before West Indies lost a series, but they had a number of close shaves. South Africa on their comeback played its first Test match in Bridgetown, a match which was attended by less than 10,000 people because of a boycott. Needing 201 to win on the last day, South Africa reached 123 for 2 before Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh took the remaining wickets for 25 runs. In 1992–93, West Indies defeated Australia by one run at Adelaide, where a loss could have cost them the series. In 1992, West Indies once again failed to qualify for the World Cup semifinal.

Related Topics:
South Africa - Bridgetown - Curtly Ambrose - Courtney Walsh - 1992 - 93 - Adelaide - World Cup

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For most of the nineties and afterwards, the West Indian batting was dominated by Brian Lara. He became a regular in the side after the retirement of Richards in 1991. Against England at Antigua 1993–94, he scored 375 and broke Sobers' world record for the highest individual score in Test cricket. He continued his fine form for Warwickshire and hit seven first-class hundreds in eight innings. The last of these, scored on the fiftieth anniversary of the D-Day, was a 501 not out against Durham, which improved upon Hanif Mohammad's thirty-five-year-old record as the highest score in first-class cricket.

Related Topics:
Brian Lara - Richards - 1991 - Antigua - 1993 - 94 - Sobers' - Warwickshire - D-Day - Not out - Durham - Hanif Mohammad

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Australia finally defeated West Indies 2–1 in 1994–95 to become the unofficial world champions of Test cricket. The 1996 World Cup ended with a defeat in the semifinal, which forced Richie Richardson, who had taken over the captaincy from Richards in 1991, to end his career in disgrace. West Indies made a landmark tour of South Africa in 1998–99. It ended in disaster, starting with player revolts and ending with a 0–5 defeat.

Related Topics:
Australia - 1994 - 95 - 1996 World Cup - Richie Richardson - 1991 - 1998 - 99

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One of the few bright spots in this bleak period was a home series against Australia. West Indies were dismissed for 51, their lowest-ever score, in the first Test. Lara hit 213 in the second to level the series. In the third, West Indies barely managed to avoid the follow-on, but Ambrose bowled Australia out for 146. Needing 308 to win, West Indies lost their fifth wicket at 105. From there, Lara played a magnificent innings of 153* and took West Indies to a one-wicket win. Wisden rated Lara's innings as the second-best-ever Tests.

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The 1999 World Cup campaign ended in the group stages. The next year, England won a series against West Indies for the first time in thirty-one years. West Indies ended the decade with another 0–5 defeat in Australia.

Related Topics:
1999 World Cup - England

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These were easily the worst days in West Indian cricket. Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, the latter after setting a new record of 519 wickets, were gone by 2001. The bowlers to follow had big shoes to fill and ultimately have not responded close to the level that Ambrose and Walsh have set. Despite the presence of some good batsmen like Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara still remained the crucial figure of the side.

Related Topics:
Curtly Ambrose - Courtney Walsh - Shivnarine Chanderpaul - Ramnaresh Sarwan - Brian Lara

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After a slump in the late 1990s, Lara regained his touch, but this seemed to make little difference to West Indies. The series in Sri Lanka was typical. Lara scored 688 runs, against Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, in three Tests; West Indies lost 0–3, two of them by ten wickets.

Related Topics:
Muttiah Muralitharan - Chaminda Vaas

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Carl Hooper captained the team in the 2003 World Cup, after which he was sacked in favour of Lara. Lara himself was replaced by Chanderpaul in 2004. West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy under him the same year.

Related Topics:
Carl Hooper - 2003 World Cup - ICC Champions Trophy

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A major dispute broke out in 2005 between the West Indian Players Association (WIPA) and the Cricket Board. The point of contention was the 'clause 5' of the tour contract which gave WICB the sole and exclusive right to arrange for sponsorship, advertising, licensing, merchandising and promotional activities relating to WICB or any WICB Team. Digicel were the sponsors of the West Indian Team, while most of the players had contracts with Cable & Wireless. This and a payment dispute meant West Indies a second-string side in the tour of Sri Lanka in 2005. As of August 2005, there is little sign of the issue getting resolved.

Related Topics:
2005 - Digicel - Cable & Wireless - Tour of Sri Lanka in 2005

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