FOR THE PEOPLE of Barbados, it may seem incomprehensible that there is not nationwide outrage over the level of violence in Trinidad and Tobago, a twin-island state of less than 1 900 square miles and population of around 1.5 million with a murder toll spiralling above 360 and threatening to hit the 500 mark by year’s end.
But this is nothing new and as social scientists have noted, it appears that the repetitive images and headlines screaming of the latest bloody developments have rendered citizens almost immune to any sense of shock, numbed as they are by its regularity.
At an infinitely less significant level, the latest Test match pummelling endured by the West Indies bowlers has unfolded with barely a raised eyebrow anywhere, except for the few in Dubai experiencing this sort of annihilation first-hand for the first time.
For the likes of Ramiz Raja and Waqar Younis, outstanding former Pakistani cricketers who have been vaguely familiar with the inexorable decline of the once-mighty force from the tiny territories of the region, witnessing the reality has left them almost with a wide-eyed bewilderment.
As elegant opening batsman and lethal fast bowler, they would have taken on the West Indies at the height of their incomparable powers and therefore treasured every worthwhile score accumulated against the most lethal pace attack ever assembled and celebrated every wicket taken against a batting line-up bristling with arrogance, dominance and unmistakeable class.
Like so many other former foes before them they ask what has gone so terribly wrong, and are advised to get accustomed to the new reality because everyone in these parts is convinced they have the cure, but no-one seems to want to be the one to swallow the bitter medicine.
So Pakistan’s amassing of 579 for three declared in just over five sessions of the day/night first Test in Dubai becomes almost a matter of course, even as opening batsman Azhar Ali’s unbeaten 302 represents a new unwanted milestone – the first triple-century (and just the third overall) conceded by the West Indies in 58 years going back to Hanif Mohammad’s marathon 337 at Kensington Oval.
Even if there are a few variables on every subsequent occasion, this has become the new normal for contemporary West Indies cricket and therefore no cause for any protracted anguish. In fact, we should be grateful that Pakistan captain Misbal ul Haq didn’t entertain the prospect of batting on into the third day for a total more in the stratospheric level and allow Azhar an opportunity to challenge Brian Lara’s individual Test innings standard of 400 not out.
In the rain-affected four-Test series against India in the Caribbean a couple months ago, the tourists amassed 566 for eight declared and 500 for nine declared in the first innings of the first two matches in Antigua and Jamaica. Australia rattled up 583 for four declared in Hobart and 551 for three declared in Melbourne on the way to comprehensive victories in the two Tests at the end of last year before rain completely ruined the New Year series finale in Sydney. Sri Lanka were not as impressive but still managed to post 484 in Galle on the way to an innings victory in the first match of the two-Test series a year ago.
In the last 28 Test matches played by the West Indies, dating back to the two pappyshow farewell fixtures for Sachin Tendulkar in India in 2013, the Caribbean bowlers have been flayed for totals over 600 once, over 500 seven times and over 400 on another seven occasions.
Compare that with the other side of the coin where the regional batsmen have prospered to the tune of a total over 500 just once (drawing the first Test of the series in New Zealand in Dunedin in December, 2013) and compiled scores over 400 twice in the same period. It would also be no real surprise to be reminded that over the period in question, the West Indies have been dismissed for less than 200 no fewer than 15 times while there have been 20 totals between 201 and 299.
This is not so much evidence of a continuous decline but the entrenching of a culture of mediocrity to the extent that any departure from this now established pattern – like the last-day resistance at Sabina Park against India and the three-day defeat of England in Bridgetown – is greeted with an awestruck silence bordering on disbelief.
For a team to win just one of its last 17 Tests (losing 11) represents a malaise that goes beyond the insular, emotive matter of team selection.
But, like a murder toll that reflects deep-seated ills in Trini society, most followers of West Indies cricket barely wince anymore when they see the opposition’s total ticking over 500 on the scoreboard.
Fazeer Mohammed is a regional cricket journalist and broadcaster who has been covering the game at all levels since 1987.