U-19 World Cup: Unburdened by history, a promising West Indies set rises
Dwain Gill was a seven-year-old kid growing up in Barbados in 1983. On June 25, 1983, like most people on that island and indeed in the whole of West Indies, he had ears glued to the radio set as the World Champions, at 57 for two in their chase of 184, seemed — or, in his case, sounded — to be cruising towards a third consecutive World Cup triumph. Desmond Haynes has just got out, but no matter, the world’s best batsman was still there. And then Vivian Richards got out.
At Mirpur on Sunday, Gill didn’t run onto the field to join the players in their wild celebrations after Keemo Paul hit the winnings runs off Khaleel Ahmed to give the West Indies their first Under-19 World Cup title. The 40-year-old team manager quietly reached out for a tissue paper, pressed it against his eyes and let it soak up his tears. “It brought back memories of the 1983 World Cup. I was listening to the radio.so I know what this means to the people of the West Indies,” Gill later said.
In the West Indian contingent, only Corey Collymore, the former West Indian seam bowler, had tasted such kind of success before, first hand. Twelve years ago at The Oval, he sat in the dressing room with his pads on and waited anxiously as No.9 Courtney Brown and No.10 Ian Bradshaw forged a partnership against England that saw them lift the Champions Trophy. It must have been deja vu then for Collymore as he sat in the dugout on Sunday, this time as the Under-19 team’s bowling coach, while Keacy Carty and Paul shepherded a tense chase.
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When that happened in 2004, Shimron Hetmyer was a seven-year-old kid in Guyana. “I was at home watching television. There was a big celebration after that,” recalled the West Indian captain. “I hope they are similarly celebrating our victory back home.”
For the West Indies, the Champions Trophy and the 2012 World T20 triumphs have been isolated peaks in a vast, dour landscape of cricketing mediocrity. If such a moment arrives, it’s indeed celebrated, but people can live without it if it doesn’t. They become less emotionally invested, if not numb. Unlike how it used to be when Gill was growing up.
The West Indies’s prolonged slump is nowhere more evident than in the choice of the Under-19 team’s idols. Their heroes are mostly currently active non-West Indian cricketers. Keacy Carty, who made unbeaten 52 in the final on Sunday, is a shy young batsman from Saint Martin, a small island of 77,000 people. He doesn’t speak much in front of the press, mostly giving monosyllabic replies to questions. His longest answer at the press conference on Sunday was to the query about his favourite player.
Virat the icon
“I look up to Virat Kohli. He is at a point in his career where he is dominating cricket with the bat. Scoring runs without taking high risk with minimum balls. I would like to get myself to that point in my career,” the 18-year-old said. Not Brian Lara, but Virat Kohli. One reason could be that Carty is a right-hander, but it could also because when Lara called it a day, he was just nine and a few years away from taking up cricket seriously.
This phenomenon is even more pronounced in bowling. Most observers are seeing glimpses of the West Indian bowling attack of old in this pack of Alzarri Joseph, Chemar Holder, Shamar Springer, Ryan John and Keemo Paul. You would instinctively imagine the pace sensation Joseph to idolise, if not the Holdings or the Marshalls, then certainly the Ambroses and the Walshes. Joseph’s favourite bowler: Dale Steyn. It’s evident in his bowling style as well. It’s un-West Indian. Like Steyn, he steams in fast, with purpose. The wrist is cocked-up under his chin as he takes a high leap and uncoils smoothly upon landing. There’s no unhurried run-up, exaggerated movement of arms, or the open-chested delivery that you would associate with an archetypal bowler from the Caribbean. But then Joseph hardly got to see fellow Antiguan Ambrose in action. He was three when the great man hung up his boots. For him Ambrose probably is ancient history.
But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It also means this young squad is bereft of the baggage of history. When asked if he wants to be like Ambrose or Garner, Joseph replies in the negative. “Umm.I don’t really want to be like them, I want to have my own image.”
Ambrose might not have inspired him, but Joseph perhaps would have motivated a few seven-year-olds back home. Or so hoped Hetmyer. “Each and everyone back home will look up on what we did today, and see if that has an impact on them. If it does, well, I hope things do get better for the West Indies.”
