| Prior to 1995, the West Indies' cricket team had not | | | | Poor attitudes |
| lost a Test series (home or away) against all | | | | The current bunch of players fail to respect the |
| opposition for 15 years. Between 1995 and 2008, the | | | | West Indian legacy in cricket and appear to have a |
| Caribbean team has not won an away series, save | | | | poor work ethic. Their approach to fitness is |
| against lowly Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. If this is not | | | | non-existent and their lack of application is often |
| enough evidence of the West Indies' decline, they | | | | embarrassingly highlighted on the field of play. The |
| tumbled from being the unofficial number one team in | | | | poor attitude has often led to disputes between |
| the cricket world to the nether regions of the official | | | | players and team management, the board and |
| ICC Test and ODI table. | | | | intra-team conflict. |
| A former South African cricket and a West Indian | | | | Administrative bungling |
| commentator were discussing possible reasons for | | | | The West Indies Cricket Boards is in financial debt |
| the West Indies' decline. The apartheid-conditioned, | | | | and organisational disarray. The poor cricket |
| white South African suggested that the West Indies | | | | administration extends to tour preparation as well. |
| were the best side for 15 years because the other | | | | The WICB does not seem to have a vision for West |
| sides were poor. He suggested that when the other | | | | Indies cricket. It also seems to create conflict or |
| sides became good, the West Indies team | | | | confusion (Digicel vs Bmobile & Stanford vs Digicel, |
| performance declined. This intellectually-challenged | | | | for example) that is harmful to the development of |
| perspective does not consider the reality of West | | | | cricket in the region. |
| Indian society. | | | | The losing mentality |
| The 1995 W.I. team that lost to Australia was far | | | | Winning is a habit. Losing can become a habit as well. |
| from the world-beaters who regularly trounced | | | | The regional team are so accustomed to losing that |
| teams like Australia and England at home. Teams | | | | they even managed to lose games from strong |
| were literally terrified of playing the men from the | | | | positions. Lack of confidence and the inability to |
| Caribbean, who had a lethal bowling attack and | | | | capitalise on winning positions have plagued the team, |
| world-class batsmen in their ranks. However, for | | | | especially on overseas tours (recent example: 2006 |
| more than a decade, the West Indies has struggled. | | | | Test series against New Zealand). |
| Many reasons have been forwarded for this. | | | | ICC Future Tours Program |
| Poor player-development | | | | Previously, the West Indies would make a profit |
| The players on the world-beating West Indies teams | | | | from going away to countries like England and |
| had the attitude and opportunities to hone their skills. | | | | Australia. With the ICC Future Tours program, the |
| They were involved in the English County | | | | West Indies does not receive revenue from its |
| championships and the Kerry Packer World Series. | | | | overseas tours. Apart from this, an impoverished |
| This afforded the legends of that team the | | | | WICB is forced to host matches against countries |
| opportunity to develop a professional attitude to the | | | | that cannot be marketed to West Indies cricket fans |
| game. The modern West Indian player does not have | | | | effectively. |
| much support or development facilities in the | | | | When New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh tour |
| Caribbean after all these years. | | | | the Caribbean, the WICB never makes a profit. The |
| Low quality and quantity of cricket matches | | | | ICC's stance on the issue is partially aiding the West |
| The West Indies' First-class season (the level below | | | | Indies' decline, while it seeks to expand the game. |
| Test cricket in the region) is a joke. Teams are | | | | This is ironic since the Windies is the only part of the |
| normally scheduled to play 5, 6 or 7 First-class games | | | | Western hemisphere in which cricket is taken |
| in one year. Also there's a one-day championship in | | | | seriously. |
| which very few games are played. In other countries, | | | | Conclusion |
| teams play much more than 12 cricket games per | | | | There may be several other reasons for the |
| season. Many West Indian players do not have the | | | | continual failure of the Windies on and off the field of |
| opportunity to play much cricket outside of | | | | play. While most teams face periods of drought as |
| international cricket, especially since the English | | | | part of the sports cycle, the calypso cricketers have |
| Cricket Board limited overseas players in the English | | | | been in the doldrums for far too long. |
| counties. | | | | |