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JUST a month before they touch down here for a two-Test battle against the Chevrons, the West Indies have been labelled not only the worst Test team in the world today but the poorest to play the game in the past 50 years by one of the sport’s most authoritative voices. The West Indies, who are now being dubbed the Worst Indies, crashed to a demoralising innings defeat, in the first Test against England, with the Calypso Kings losing 19 wickets in just one day.

They have since been receiving severe criticism from around the world for their fall from grace and leading English commentator, Geoffrey Boycott, one of the most authoritative voices in the game, said they were the worst team to play Test cricket in the past half-a-century.

‘‘I take no pleasure in saying this – West Indies are the worst Test team I have seen in over 50 years,’’ he wrote in The Daily Telegraph.

“They can’t bat and can’t bowl. I take no pleasure out of saying this as I played against some of the greatest players the world has ever seen wearing the maroon cap of the West Indies.

‘‘It is a cricketing tragedy to see the West Indies like this and there is no gloating over them losing. We all want England to win Test matches but we should not be euphoric about this. It is just sad to see a once-proud cricket Test team lower than any I have ever seen before.”

“This was a Test match in name only and the gulf between these two cricketing countries is as wide as the Grand Canyon. The West Indies bowling lacks pace . . . they have no spinner, just a batsman in Roston Chase lobbing up wide balls wider and wider of the off stump hoping he does not get clobbered for too many runs. The batting is even worse. They are just young kids with limited techniques trying to take on two of the best seamers in world cricket in conditions that suit them.

“This series is no preparation for the Ashes whatsoever. Any runs scored or wickets taken do not tell us anything about how these players will cope in Australia. It is probably the worst series we could play before an Ashes tour.”

Seventeen years have passed since the Windies won a Test in England and former England skipper Michael Vaughan said “every time they have arrived here, they seem to have got worse.”

And there is even agreement in the West Indies corner that the slide is unacceptable with former fast bowler Curtly Ambrose, who picked 405 wickets in 98 Tests, stating in a piece in The Daily Mail that the team’s defeat was an embarrassment.

‘‘In the end it was totally embarrassing, I never saw any aggression from the West Indies players throughout the three days. There was no belief that they could compete, let alone beat England.

‘‘They seemed to be waiting for England to make mistakes and at this level that is not going to work. Trust me, it was painful to watch.

‘‘What concerns me is that I do not think these players know what West Indies cricket means to West Indians and followers of the global game.

‘‘I was with the team for two years as bowling coach and we tried to educate them about our heritage. I tried to tell them what West Indies cricket meant.

‘‘I talked about the pride and passion in representing the region and our people. I could talk to them all day but once they stepped over that rope they were on their own and if they were not prepared to listen, it was simply a waste of time. It does hurt. And it has reached a point where it is very embarrassing.” – Senior Sports Editor/Agencies.