
Tags: Opinion, West Indies, Daren Sammy
The pink-ball Test at Sabina Park was meant to be a historic occasion—the first day-night Test ever played in Jamaica. Instead, it has become a grave marker for the West Indies' once-proud legacy in Test cricket. On Monday evening, with the shadow of dusk falling over Kingston, the West Indies were bowled out for 27 runs, the second-lowest total in the 147-year history of Test cricket. Only New Zealand's 26 all out against England in 1955 ranks lower.
This wasn’t just a defeat. It was a humiliation of epic proportions.
Chasing a modest target of 204, admittedly on a tricky pitch, the West Indies folded in 14.3 overs, losing all 10 wickets for a paltry sum. Mitchell Starc, smelling blood, tore through the top order like a buzzsaw, claiming three wickets in the very first over without conceding a run. He took five wickets in his first 15 balls, setting a new record for the fastest five-wicket haul in Test history. By the time he was done, he had finished with 6 for 9 from 7.3 overs, a spellbinding performance that left the Caribbean side in ruins. History was made in Sabina Park, just not the kind the Caribbean faithful had hoped for.
From the opening ball when John Campbell feathered one to the keeper, to the final dismissal of Jayden Seales, this innings was a grotesque display of ineptitude and panic. The scorecard reads like a tragic poem of despair: Campbell, Anderson, and King—gone with the score still at zero. Roston Chase, the captain, offered nothing. Shai Hope, the vice-captain and senior statesman—gone for 2 off 2. Mikyle Louis managed 4, Justin Greaves got to 11, and Alzarri Joseph remained unbeaten on 4. In all, six batsmen failed to score, and only two boundaries were struck. The collapse was comprehensive, but it wasn’t unprecedented—only depressingly familiar.
Captain Roston Chase, clearly stung by the performance, offered an honest if sobering assessment. “Heartbreaking to be in a position like this,” he said. “It has been recurring for the whole series, makes it all the more disappointing. It is quite easy to assess—the bowlers kept us in all along, batters never really clicked.” His words carried the weight of truth, though they will offer little consolation to fans who have heard similar refrains too often.
But this isn’t just about one bad innings. It is the symptom of a deeper malaise—poor decision-making, misguided selections, and a lack of leadership both on and off the field. What, for instance, was the rationale behind selecting Jomel Warrican—a left-arm spinner—on a pitch that Australia deemed unsuitable for Nathan Lyon, their world-class off-spinner with over 500 wickets? Warrican bowled just 12 overs in the match and went wicketless. In a game where every run mattered, wouldn't it have been wiser to include Kaecy Carty or another batter to shore up a clearly brittle lineup? Across the two innings, the West Indies managed 143 and 27, totalling 170 runs in the entire match — 55 runs fewer than Australia’s first innings score of 225.
To say the West Indies bowlers deserved better would be an understatement. Over the course of the series, they claimed all 60 Australian wickets. And in every match, they bowled Australia out for under 300. Yet the West Indies never once managed to take a match into the fifth day. Even Australia’s Cameron Green admitted the pitches were difficult. But both sides played on the same surface. Australia, for all their struggles, found a way. The West Indies did not. Time and time again, their batters failed to complement the hard work of their bowlers.
Chase acknowledged that imbalance, choosing to praise the only functioning part of his team. “I would like to congratulate them,” he said of his bowling attack. “They have delivered whenever I called them. We didn't do well as a team but as a bowling unit they did well. Don’t want them to rest on their laurels but work on their skills.” It was a deserved commendation, but also a reminder that even within dysfunction, there are flickers of competence.
And what comes next? Chase suggested that the long break before the next series might offer an opportunity to regroup. “The next series is quite a while. We have time on our side. Need to have a look at the batting display and see how we can improve and put 300 totals. India is going to be different conditions, spinner-friendly. So having batting camps focusing around spin would be ideal.” His prescription for the future is measured, but after such a catastrophic collapse, it also risks sounding like lip service unless backed by meaningful change.
The bigger question now looms: Was Daren Sammy the right man for the job? Since taking over as head coach in all formats, the former T20 World Cup-winning captain has not won a single Test, ODI or T20I. While the sample size is relatively small, the trend is alarming. A decision that was seen by some as a gamble—replacing Andre Coley with Sammy—now feels reckless. In most professional sporting environments, this level of consistent underperformance would have resulted in resignations or firings. But in West Indies cricket, accountability has become a myth.
The outrage is palpable. Sabina Park, once the fortress of Caribbean cricket, is now the stage for ignominy. The fans are tired—not just of losing, but of watching a team that no longer seems to understand its own heritage. The West Indies aren’t just losing matches—they are being reduced to a footnote in the stories of other teams' triumphs.
This isn't just about pride. It's about identity. It's about the spirit of a people who once looked to cricket as proof of their brilliance on the world stage. That spirit is being crushed, series by series, collapse by collapse. If urgent action isn’t taken—on selections, coaching, management and development—then the West Indies will not only continue to be a joke. They will soon be irrelevant.
And that, for the proud cricketing nations of the Caribbean, if not already, would be the greatest tragedy of all.
Photos: AFP/Getty Images
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