ICC World Cup: The destination as distant as Mars for West Indies

The West Indies launch their attempt to arrive on the World Cup champions podium for the first time since 1979 against Ireland at Saxton Oval in Nelson New Zealand todayWest Indies players celebrate a Scotland wicket during their warmup match at Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday PicGetty ImagesIt is a destination as distant as Mars The first to lift the trophy in 1975 repeating four years later they have crashed well short on five of their seven subsequent missions In 1983 India displaced them just when the goal seemed theirs for the third successive time in 1996 they fell to Australia with it in sightOn none of the previous 10 occasions have they appeared more unlikely to survive the journey as nowThey undertake it under captain Jason Holder a new inexperienced mission commander younger than any West Indies have ever had Since the dismissal of Ottis Gibson as head coach last August Stuart Williams remains as standin chief engineer the only second stringer among the other 13 in the positionTheir preparations have been marked by a succession of struggles in the preceding ODI series in South Africa and in the two pretournament matches designed as fine tuning for the World Cup The last before their opening match was on Thursday against Scotland an associate team that has never won a World Cup match they managed to eke out victory by three runsSearching for a glimmer of hope Sir Richie Richardson the overall manager and Clive Lloyd whose selection panel chose the crew have used the wellworn clicheacutes mdash a game of glorious uncertainties crickets a funny game mdash to raise some hope Presumably in all seriousness Richardson went as far as to declare after the nine wickets warmup canter by England that the aim was not to peak too early it overlooked the reality that the West Indies havent peaked for some time Lloyd noted that others have overcome such dismal backdrops to reach their goalUnderdogs have done itIn 1983 champions India were as discounted as West Indies are now they had previously won just one match over East Africa in 1975 and 1979 In 1992 Pakistan had to depend on a point gained from a rainedout match against England to make it to the semifinal going on to beat them in a full match to claim the Cup In 1996 no one saw Sri Lanka coming strong to emerge as deserving champions In each case success was based on certain positive factors India were swept along by an unmistakable team spirit and selfbelief under the leadership of Kapil Dev the mighty allrounderPakistan were inspired by their charismatic captain Imran Khans rallying call to his men to play like cornered tigers when they were on the edge of elimination Imran led from the front Javed Miandad Wasim Akram the fledgling InzamamulHaq and the others were right behind him Sri Lanka shocked opponents with the originality of the opening blast of their openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitherana that laid a base for the continuing aggression of the classy Aravinda de Silva and the strong middle order Like Kapil and Imran before him the confident uncompromising Arjuna Ranatunga was the categorical leaderNo team spiritWest Indies have no such skipper no such team spirit no such confidence Yet to develop as a player Holder was handed an impossible task when appointed to direct several old hands three of them former captains That he replaced Dwayne Bravo clearly dropped for his role in the teams costly and contentious withdrawal from the tour of India in October added to his difficultiesIt was a decision that fueled discontent in the ranks openly from Chris Gayle the oldest most dominant individual in the squad What optimism they still carried even after South Africa was dented by Sunil Narines withdrawal from the World Cup denying the team its most effective limitedovers bowler Williams believes the return of Darren Bravo and Kemar Roach after lengthy absences can bring a different feel to the whole team maybe the spark that we need in the World CupBravo is a quality if underachieving lefthander who fills the No 3 position that was such a problem in South Africa Roach brings with him incisive pacemovement Even the most upbeat coach could hardly expect two players alone no matter how special to suddenly transform his team from nohopers to World Cup contenders He accepts that it must be in collaboration with other key playersIt involves a proliferationof ifs If for instance at one and the same time Holder establishes himself as the leader the prodigious Gayle rediscovers fitness and form for one last memorable World Cup hurrah Marlon Samuels sets his sights beyond pretty 70s and 80s Andre Russell combines control with his lively bowling and fierce hitting Jerome Taylor starts taking wickets as he used to Bravo and Roach match Williams hopes and the team as a whole sheds its traditional inconsistency Somehow that seems just too many ifs to look any further forward than the opening blast off against IrelandTony Cozier continues to be the voice of West Indies cricket