Cricket in the West Indies
Cricket is the most popular sport in the West Indies. Played by millions, the sport has a storied history in the Caribbean, with the West Indies being one of the premier national teams today.
History of Cricket in the West Indies
Like many countries that play cricket at a high level, the sport was brought to the West Indies by the British military in the 19th century. It became popular during this time, with the military garrisons often being the places where cricket pitches were located.
In 1806, the first Caribbean club, St Anne’s, was established. However, it was not until 30 years after slavery ended that the first inter-colonial match occurred between Barbados and Guyana. The game was now popular across Caribbean and the sport helped bring the islands together.
Integrated matches became more common as the British Empire was looking to make the sport more popular globally. This is why they set up the West Indian Cricket Board which was elected to the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1926.
Cricket West Indies is still in charge of all the cricket played in the islands today and organises the national team.
As cricket continued to grow in the West Indies, various domestic competitions were set up to nurture the best talent possible. These competitions have also developed players in the different formats of the game.
The Regional Four-Day Competition was first held in 1965 and involved matches between all islands that make up the West Indies. Every great West Indian cricketer started off in this competition, with Barbados being the most successful team in the competition.
Most recently, the Caribbean Premier League was set up. The CPL is one of a number of franchise T20 tournaments around the world. It has attracted international talent, with icons like David Hussey, Shoaib Malik and Kevin Pietersen all playing in the league.
Other Caribbean nations are associate members of the ICC, but they don’t add players to the West Indian teams. Countries like Cuba, the Bahamas and Belize have their own cricket sides and are not included in the West Indies. The West Indies have hosted multiple Cricket World Cups, including the most recent T20 World Cup.
West Indies National Team
During the 1880s a combined West Indies team was selected to tour Canada and the United States. In the 1890s, English sides began to tour the West Indies and play against teams from all over the Caribbean. There were even tours of England by the West Indian sides.
During this time, the West Indies were mainly playing county sides despite often having a lot of success with the tours of England. But by 1926, England finally granted the West Indies full membership to the ICC which also meant that they could play test matches.
The first test match that the West Indies played took place on the 23rd of June 1928 against England at Lords. The national side did not have success straight away, struggling massively against England.
But the following year, the West Indies beat England at home, eventually drawing the four-game series 1-1. The home conditions started to favour the West Indies, with their first-ever test series win coming against England at home in 1935.
World War II might have put international cricket on hold, but by the 1950s the West Indies were one of the best teams in the world. During this time, they had the brilliant spin duo of Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine who helped them beat England 3-1.
After struggling in the 1960s, the West Indies returned to being the best team in the world in the 1970s. They had what many believe to be the best bowling attack of all time by the 1980s, with great pace bowlers like Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Michael Holding and Joel Garner.
The West Indies kept on producing incredible, fast bowlers who thrived on the dry and bouncy pitches of the islands.
This is one of the reason why the West Indies won the first two Cricket World Cups before coming second in 1983. After losing the first series of the 1980s, they went undefeated for the rest of the decade.
No team has been that dominant in test match history since then. While they were not as dominant in the 1990s, this period did see the greatest batsman in Windies history play. Brian Lara was known for his brilliant style and for scoring a record 400 not out in a test match against England.
In the modern era, the West Indies team has been playing slightly different. Since the introduction of T20 cricket, they have focused more on limited-overs cricket. They won the T20 World Cup twice, with the 2010s seeing a prominent generation of West Indian limited-overs talent.
Players like Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine led the Windies to being the best T20 side in the world for a decade. That team has aged out slightly, with the West Indies struggling in international cricket over the last decade. They even failed to qualify for the Cricket World Cup in 2023.
Now there is a new era of West Indian cricket and the team is looking to rebuild and become a force in international cricket once again.
