When calypso turned cruel: The tale of how the great West Indies conquered the world
“Look at the eyes, the concentration. Trying to scare the batsman! I reckon this one will be straight at the jaws, as well. Oh, it’s a good bouncer that just missed his nose. That was a fine aggressive nasty delivery.”
Listening to this sort of commentary in a West Indian game is a rare phenomena these days. Those were the days of 70s and 80s. Currently, in the longer format, I don’t see the flair in their arsenal, but I wish to see them revive. On the joyous occasion of their 500th Test, let me take some pride in sharing how the Caribbean boys became invincible.
During the 1960s and 70s, blacks were not regarded as equals. That was the time, the heat was on for them to stand up and deliver for their respect. Cricket was an instrument of colonialism for the whites and was very much seen in imparting English aristocratic values to the blacks. In West Indies, cricket is something that flows in the blood. They play cricket for the value of the game. Their history has been a long and painful struggle against the forces that denied and depressed them. And it was only through the same cricket, they could win their long lost respect – which meant freedom to them – back.
But there was a big catch to it. Initially, there were sparks and flashes of individual geniuses, but it never resulted in West Indian victories. It was like a bunch of locals playing it for fun and frolic. You could read “Calypso boys collapse again” very frequently with every country they toured.
Their team had no backbone .They desperately needed someone who could hold the people together; someone who could bond them and inspire them for the common goal of being victorious. Just when they needed a composed figure, Clive Lloyd debuted in 1966. He made the gang into a team by giving direction. He was a great thinker, and everybody respected him as a leader. He wanted to have a different team with a different thinking. He made them understand that they are strong people and they are here to win”.
The fateful Australian tour of 1975
In 1975, the young and inexperienced Windies side travelled to Australia to face the champions on their own soil. During that era in Test cricket, a set of fast bowlers (fast as in really fast people who bowled at 90-95 miles an hour and that extra dimension decided whether you get hurt or not) were used as a parameter to distinguish between a good side and a great side. Wait, let me tell you that Australia were the number one ranked team, all thanks to Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee: two names that were ruthless enough to scare any goddamn batsman. They were truly intimidating. Their ideologies were simple: “Once you have the capability to hurt someone with a bullet in your hand, the person facing you isn’t thinking of hitting the ball, he is thinking of self preservation.”
During the game, all you could hear was Lillee-Lillee-kill-kill-kill! Out there, it was a war. There were injuries, broken fingers and crushed jaws everywhere. It was a humiliating sight, like a military assault on the West Indian cricket. That was a nasty series with a lot of confrontations both on and off the field. Australians played like seasoned campaigners, and they literally screwed the Caribbean bolts. Test cricket wasn’t a gentleman’s game anymore; there were chants of “you black c***s! Go back to your trees” after the scoreline (Australia 5 – Windies 1) was displayed.
Once they came back, they realised everything was at stake. Windies cricket was at the crossroads. Their own people had turned hostile; that sort of environment could either make you or break you, and they didn’t have a choice. They didn’t want any crumbs; they wanted the loaf. They knew that there was no going back, and it was cricket that had to pave the way for their better future.
Llyod stood strong and said ‘never again’! If we also can find some good fast bowlers who are just as quick as they are or even quicker, that’s it. He went into the Caribbean, looking for genuine spearheads that could fit into his plan: “One people! One nation! One destiny!” was his motto.
Geographically speaking, Caribbean islands are the countries/islands that are surrounded by the Caribbean sea. Some of the well-known islands are Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica and Trinidad. All have different governments, different attitudes towards different things, but everyone is united by a common banner that is the West Indian cricket. Their cricket speaks for all the different accents and forces out there.