Gloomier days for WI

THE EDITOR: Lara or no Lara, West Indies crashed to a humiliating 59-run defeat against the Akhtar-less Pakistanis in St Vincent. On the heels of the 5-0 One Day whitewash inflicted by South Africa, the team continues to defy logic with their inexplicable “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” syndrome. Like thousands of West Indian fans, I am deeply hurt by these spineless performances. Chanderpaul must have regrets in accepting the captaincy.

Perhaps Bennett King should remind his charges of Clive Lloyd’s introduction to former Jamaican prime minister Michael Manley’s book A History of West Indian Cricket and I quote, “As captain of the West Indies team for ten years (1974-1984), I can honestly say that cricket is the ethos around which West Indian society revolves. All our experiments in Caribbean integration either failed or have maintained a dubious survivability — but cricket remains the instrument of Caribbean cohesion . . . it is the musical instrument in which we orchestrate our emotions from the extreme of wild enthusiasm to the depths of despair.” Barring a miraculous turnaround, more gloomy days are ahead. Over to you Messrs Carew, Greendige and Butts.

REZA ABASALI
Barataria