Does cricket need a strong West Indies?

[GIMH]

I’ve often heard this said but how true is it?
Would the game prosper more if it continued to thrive in the Caribbean?

Food for thought.

 

[sledger]

10/10 thread.

Also, no.

 

[GotSpin]

I'm not sure if this is a piss take or not, but I'll bite.

Having a strong West Indies touring Australia would really help with the summer scheduling. Since South Africa became all selfish and wanted their own summer, we now have two good seasons (England & India) with two 'less interesting' ones thrown in during the cycle.

And a strong West Indies would be very popular. Far more so than a strong Pakistan or something.

 

[Athlai]

It really gets my goat when I hear this being uttered by former players or commentators..

Fact of the matter is, all sports rely on balances in power changing.. We now have a dominant Australia, South Africa re-admitted, Bangladesh starting to show glimpses of progression, and other nations such as Ireland and Nepal starting to get noticed.. All this at the expense, probably of the West Indies past dominance, but some people seem to lament this, as if the West Indies have a right to a place near the top of world cricket.. I can't understand why there is anything inherantly wrong with them being near the bottom of the tree.. It's obviously sad for their followers to see their regression, but I don't see why it's sad for cricket..

 

[stephen]

The West Indies being strong is why cricket in the 90s was so good. Australia would host the West Indies, the Ashes, Pakistan and South Africa who were all competitive during the 90s.

It made for great tests every summer.

 

[Starfighter]

TIL that the Ashes were competitive during the nineties.

 

[Flem274*]

And a strong West Indies would be very popular. Far more so than a strong Pakistan or something.

this is just factually wrong. Pakistan are probably the second biggest cricket team in the world based on following. If their cricket fell off a cliff the impact on crickets popularity would be massive.

 

[stephen]

I didn't say they were. I just said they were great tests. I didn't say why they were great.

 

[Flem274*]

if we remove our test cricket preference then the west indies are still pulling their weight for crickets popularity and finances thanks to all the T20 mercenaries

test cricket probably still makes a killing off of big 3 telly rights plus the south african fast bowling drawcard to many tests bar their own home ones so no test cricket doesn't seem to need a strong west indies

it'd be nice to have 12 competitive test sides though, even with all the inevitable 'everyone is terrible' whining it'd spark like it does now with 8-9 reasonably close ones, given the right arena for some

 

[Gnske]

Needs a five cent cigar tbqh

Give me adaptable test cricket sides and I'll be happy.

 

[GotSpin]

this is just factually wrong. Pakistan are probably the second biggest cricket team in the world based on following. If their cricket fell off a cliff the impact on crickets popularity would be massive.

Can you actually read the rest of my post? I'm specifically referring to Australia and that a strong West Indies touring here would be a far greater draw card than Pakistan

 

[Agricultural]

No. It needs to give Associates more chances.

 

[Slifer]

I wouldn't say test cricket needs a strong wi but there's no doubt in my mind that they'd be a lot more people in stadiums in Australia and England if the frank worrell and wisden series were more competitive. Fact!!

 

[Flem274*]

Can you actually read the rest of my post? I'm specifically referring to Australia and that a strong West Indies touring here would be a far greater draw card than Pakistan

didn't realise the thread was called 'does australia need a strong west indies?'

the answer to that is also no

 

[Mike5181]

Cricket would be fine if India was the only country playing it.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Cricket only needs a strong Australia, England and India. They can just tour each other every alternate year and develop the game..oh wait

 

[GotSpin]

didn't realise the thread was called 'does australia need a strong west indies?'

the answer to that is also no

**** you're being an annoying **** atm.

Speaking from an Australian perspective, a strong West Indies and subsequent competitive Frank Worrell trophy would be a huge bonus here

Globally, the more competitive nations the better obviously

 

[GotSpin]

I wouldn't say test cricket needs a strong wi but there's no doubt in my mind that they'd be a lot more people in stadiums in Australia and England if the frank worrell and wisden series were more competitive. Fact!!

Indeed

 

[jimmy101]

I think cricket needs a strong WI and it isn't just a cliché. It's a rather unique fact that one of the places in the world where cricket is a major sport is the Caribbean, hopefully it can stay that way. Not many other sports can make such a claim. The fans still really seem to get a kick out of their team winning T20 world championships though, which is good. However their stadiums are near-empty for Test matches these days which really worries me. We even seem to have less WI posters on the forum these days.

 

[stephen]

A mix of strong northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere sides is good for cricket. It means that draw card series can be longer, which has to be a good thing.