In conversation with Kimani Melius
The West Indies team of the 1970s and 1980s are cemented as the greatest team the game ever saw. You know the names; you know the stories. You know they dominated the globe for nearly two decades. Just eight losses in the 1980s, you know that is frankly ridiculous.
However, since their heyday, a supply chain which once seemed infinite has ceased production on the world’s finest Test cricketers. The legacies of Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding loom like a long evening shadow over the current cohort, provoking unfavourable comparisons. Second-class infrastructure has exacerbated the gap between the West Indies and the game’s richest nations; their well-documented, chronic decay is now the game’s greatest blemish.
A perceived lack of interest in cricket across the Caribbean is often held responsible for the decline of the West Indies. After the finest talents in the region drifted permanently to the shortest format, away from Test cricket, a generation of fans who had become accustomed to watching the best of the best over 5 days could no longer offer equivalent enthusiasm for an inferior team. And so began a vicious cycle of deterioration that still harms Caribbean cricket today.
Still, the wider cricket-watching public, who once delighted in the exploits of the men in maroon, crave nothing more than a new generation that conquers all. Only, after a 20-year slump, that feels worlds away.
Despite a purported lack of enthusiasm, many determined young Caribbean cricketers are eager to provoke a revival. Though much too young to have watched masterful batsmen like Viv Richards, they share his goal of forging a dominant West Indies Test team. And that is a worthy cause; Shamar Joseph’s crazed celebration at the Gabba following victory in a Test match earlier this year was a reminder of how a thriving West Indies can enrich the game.
Only those with first-hand experience of the shortcomings of the West Indies Test pathway can offer a well-informed view on how to fix it. In the stands of the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, a ground named after St Lucia’s most beloved son, Kimani Melius, former West Indies U19 captain, spoke in detail about the existing infrastructure in the Caribbean.
After a poor 2024 first-class season, though still only 15 games into his first-class career, Melius faces a definitive crossroads. In September his employers, the Windwards Islands, will decide whether to retain his services for next season.
Kimani began the West Indies Championship as captain but after just one 50 in four games, he was dropped from the team. It is a reminder of just how ruthless domestic selectors can be. And yet, despite uncertainty surrounding his future, he is assured about his prospects.
“I wouldn't say (losing my contract) has been on my mind. It's just a matter of me grabbing the opportunities that come my way. I wouldn't be playing cricket if I didn’t have aspirations of representing West Indies at the highest level.”
For Melius, playing Test cricket for the West Indies will always be the highest level. So much of Caribbean cricketing history has come over 5 days, with the British public seeing the best of it. From the ‘grovel’ series in ’76 to blackwashes in both ’84 and ’86; the impact of these crushing victories was felt far beyond the boundary. A band of brothers from former British colonies came together to outclass, batter and bruise the old imperial power.
But that was then; the T20 format’s offer of life-changing sums of money has relegated red-ball cricket to an afterthought. Most recently, former Test captain Jason Holder, for many years the beating heart of an inconsistent team, turned down a West Indies central contract to pursue further franchise cricket opportunities.
All the while, the Big Three nations (Australia, England, India) blessed with the broadest shoulders, have forged modern pathways that ensure a constant source of new Test players. Their domestic competitions streamline talent into a rigid pathway. The Test cricketers of tomorrow are continuously constructed, and, to the detriment of the sport, smaller nations have been left behind.
For those who remain keen to develop their first-class game, the West Indies Championship doesn’t offer nearly as many opportunities. Following a COVID-enforced reduction, it remains just 7 matches long. A competition half the length of England’s County Championship provides half the opportunities for new talent. Players who start slow can find themselves out of favour quickly, their careers in limbo, without the security of a long-term contract.
“Cricketers (in the Caribbean) are not playing enough first-class games. Some of the guys I played against at the 2018 U19 World Cup have played 70 + first-class games. I've only played 15. That’s a big difference.”
The odds are stacked against young West Indian cricketers like Melius, though he retains a sincere faith in his capabilities. His confidence is far from unfounded; a score of 192 against Trinidad & Tobago in February 2023 made waves across the islands.
Like everything in his career, success arrived via the brute force of hard work. In late 2022 Melius booked a trip to the UK to work even harder on his game with batting guru Toby Radford, now Kent’s batting coach. It tidied up Melius’ technique and enabled him to play a marathon innings.
“Toby has been very impactful in the way that my game has transitioned to the next level. I still believe that it's not where I want it to be in terms of consistency but I like the way I'm hitting the ball. I just needed a little bit more clarity. Toby has got a great cricketing eye. I saw it as an opportunity for me to go to the UK for six months and better my game. I funded it with my own money; that's an investment in myself that will pay dividends in the near future. And you know, it paid partial dividends when I scored 192.”
Kimani stayed in Radford’s home during his trip to the UK; the two formed a bond as the batter’s game reached new heights. The decision to seek out a new coach (Radford has worked with Kraigg Brathwaite, Jason Holder and Eoin Morgan) is a credit to Melius and his dedication to reaching the top.
However, few have the means to independently fund a coaching trip across the globe. If the brightest talents have to go overseas, it is a potential indicator of a lack of top-class coaching available in the Caribbean, thus contributing to the blight of top-level players. This is something Kimani is acutely aware of;
“We need more coaches. Coaches who are willing to do the work with the players so we can develop as a nation and return to where we once were when we were dominating cricket around 4 decades ago in the time of Clive Lloyd.”
Following that coming-of-age, maiden FC century, Melius played just a single championship game either side of a minor injury that kept him out of action for a fortnight. Nearly as soon as it had arrived, the 2023 red ball season reached its conclusion. A highly thought-of youngster, fresh off the innings of his life, would have to wait a full 10 months for another taste of first-class action.
Compounding the issue, when rare FC opportunities do arrive for Windies cricketers, so often the wickets are under-prepared. “Some of the wickets are very slow and low. You can’t play proper shots on these wickets.”
The lack of manpower available to produce top-level wickets is a devastating symptom of years of chronic underinvestment in the region. The quick, bouncy tracks of yesteryear could help produce the four horsemen of tomorrow. Instead, spinners routinely take the most wickets in the WI Championship. This impact has been felt at Test level; in the last 20 years, only Sri Lanka and Bangladesh’s seam bowlers have worse averages when bowling pace in England. The team made famous by an overabundance of world-class quick bowlers no longer possess a fearsome attack.
It's clear the domestic structure does not maximise the potential of its talent pool, who remain rich in ability and full of desire to play Cricket. Is it any wonder the West Indies have fallen behind when the road to the top is paved with extra obstacles, foreign to young cricketers in the Big Three countries? How many emerging players in England, divorced from a long 14-game season and regular red ball 2nd XI cricket, would see their progression stunted? In many ways, the Windies are stuck in the 20th century.
For too long, global administrators have allowed Cricket to decline in one of the game’s most historic regions and failed to provide adequate financial support. Cricket West Indies, already stretched thin, bears the brunt of a significant financial hit when staging any FC cricket at all. Internationally, they can ill afford to spend 2 million dollars sending a team to Australia without a cent in return, as they did earlier this year. It is a global structure too unequal to be fit for purpose. Perhaps it is this disparity that is being reflected at Test level.
The dominance of the Big Three has stoked fears that in the future, they may be the only teams in a financial position to play Test cricket. After all, many in the Caribbean have, understandably, relentlessly pursued T20 money during their finite careers. Consequently, the opportunity for players in smaller nations to prioritise their first-class game is diminishing. Clive Lloyd’s team of Test match titans is merely a memory.
Sad, desperate stories such as the decline of cricket in Jamaica have echoed around the world. As Sabina Park edges towards dereliction, pessimism about the state of the game breeds. But this is a broad and diverse region. Prepared to fill the skills gap are ever-improving pathways in historically lesser cricketing nations, such as St Lucia.
“The last three U19 World Cups have included 4 St Lucian players and two captains. St. Lucia possesses a wide range of talent, but it's how the coaches and the cricket board harness these talents and don’t let them go to waste. We have to work extra hard and we need facilities to be put in place. We could train as hard as a guy in Barbados who has good facilities, a guy in Trinidad has good facilities. We need to be on an equal playing field.”
Melius was an early indicator of a wave of new St Lucian talent that is now a key part of the Windwards Islands pathway. Elsewhere in the Windwards, Dominica’s Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze have impressed enormously; they are just the first example of talent from historically lesser cricketing islands performing in the international arena.
Many young players in St Lucia gush about Melius’ influence on them, gifting them everything from technical advice to playing kit. In the absence of sufficient outside funding, ambassadors for the game on every Caribbean Island are the best way to combat the threat of disillusionment with the sport.
“Helping out youngsters comes naturally, you know. Too often when we have gone through the doors of opportunity, we tend to close the door behind us for other guys not to go through. We should leave the door open for other guys, you know, to make a name for themselves.”
It is difficult for the players of today to comprehend whether their path to professional cricket gave them sufficient support to reach the highest level. But, the cricketers of tomorrow, born in the region that once conquered all, would no doubt delight the globe if only they were once again given a fair chance at doing so.
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