All About the West Indies Cricket Team

The West Indies cricket team, commonly referred to as The Windies, is a composite team that is made up of cricketers from fifteen different Caribbean territories.

They are controlled by Cricket West Indies and have been a Full Member of the ICC since the 31st May 1926. If you want to find out a bit more about their history, the clothing that they wear while playing, who some of their current best players are, how they have done at previous world tournaments, what their record against other nations is, and how they are currently doing, then just keep reading.

West Indies Cricketing History

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The West Indies cricket team was started in the 1880s, when a combined team from the West Indies toured the United States and Canada. Then, in the 1890s, representative sides were chosen to play against some touring English sides. It was then decided that a West Indies side would tour England, and this went on to become a common occurrence all the way up 1913. However, for some reason not quite known, these matches stopped, and the West Indies didn't play cricket again until they toured England in 1923. It must be pointed out that the early West Indian sides were more white-dominated due to the fact that the British had colonised those islands. This was more of a social thing than racial discrimination.

The Marylebone Cricket Club wanted to create awareness of cricket throughout Britain's empire, which is why the West Indies, alongside New Zealand, and India became Full Members of the ICC in 1926. This meant that they could now take part in official test matches. On the 23rd of June, 1928, the West Indies became the fourth team to play test cricket when they took on England at Lord's. This was a three-match series that visitors went on to lose very heavily. They didn't score more than 250 runs in any of their innings and they failed to bowl England out for anything less than 350 runs.

The West Indies picked up their first test win on the 26th February, 1930. They played a series against a weakened England side and drew it 1-1. They have always been blessed with some fantastic players, but their success in international cricket remained quite sporadic right up until the 1960s.

In 1960, Sir Frank Worrell became the first black captain of the West Indies as he was chosen to take a team to Australia. Worrell would be the captain for the next three years and he helped to mould a bunch of raw but talented cricketers into one of the best teams that the world has ever seen. In 1960, Australia had the best team around, but they were on a slow downward spiral, while the West Indies side was only moving in one direction, and that was up. When the two teams met, the produced what has been called one of the best series of all time. The first test ended in a tie (this was the first time this had happened), with both sides winning one of the next two. In the fourth match, Australia's final two batsmen were able to bat for 100 minutes to ensure that their side earned a draw. This meant that there was everything to play for in the final test of the series. Australia went on to win the match by two wickets. The West Indies might have lost, but they created such an impression that the trophy was re-named the Frank Worrell Trophy.

The following year, the West Indies destroyed India 5-0 at home and they then beat a talented England team 3-1 in 1963. This was the last test series that Worrell played, and he was replaced as captain by none other than Garfield Sobers. In 1964, the West Indies hosted the Aussies again and won the series 2-1. They were now basically the best team in the world.

Things started to go awry in 1968 when they lost to Australia 3-1, drew with New Zealand, and then lost to England 2-0 the following year. In 1970, they lost to India for the very first time. The next year they played a five-match series against New Zealand that ended in a 0-0 draw. In 1972 they played against Australia in the Caribbean and lost once again. They got back to winning ways in 1972 when they toured England and won the series 2-0.

The emergence of great players such as Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, and Vivian Richards helped the West Indies to win the very first ICC Cricket World Cup that took place in 1975. After this, more great players joined the team such as Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, and Malcolm Marshall. The West Indies now had a team with a tremendous amount of quality. They went on to retain their trophy at the 1979 World Cup and then went on to dominate world cricket right up until around 1998. Along the way, cricket fans were lucky to see the emergence of players such as Brian Lara, Ian Bishop, Curtly Ambrose, and Phil Simmons.

They toured South Africa in 1998 and lost 5-0. They then failed to get through the group stage of the 1999 World Cup, and then they lost to England for the first time in three decades. If this wasn't bad enough, they followed this up with a 5-0 defeat to Australia and then lost 2-0 to New Zealand in 1999. However, the West Indies were soon back on form, winning the T20 World Cup twice - in 2012 and 2016.

"They have not been a world power in test cricket for almost two decades now, but they have a decent ODI team and a very strong T20 team. At the moment their coach is Phil Simmons, the test captain isJason Holder, and the limited overs captain is Kieron Pollard."

Which Colours do the West Indies Cricket Team Play In?

Test Cricket

When the West Indies play test matches, they, like all other teams, have to wear white trousers and a white t-shirt. When they are fielding, you will see them wearing a maroon cap or sunhat with the WICB logo in the centre. Their helmets are the same colour and also have the WICB logo in the centre. This logo is also on the left side of the t-shirt and the right leg of the trousers. The name of their sponsor, which is currently Sandals, can be seen on the right side of the t-shirt.

ODI and T20 Cricket

When taking part in one-day cricket matches, the team wear maroon trousers and a maroon t-shirt. On the shirt you will their sponsor's name and the WICB logo. The cap that they wear is also maroon with a couple of yellow stripes. Once again, the WICB logo can be seen in the centre. Their T20 outfit is similar, with the only difference being that the front of the t-shirt is yellow instead of maroon. The helmets that they wear in both shortened formats are maroon.

A Look at Some of West Indies Talented Cricket Players?

The West Indies have always had talented players playing for them. We will now take a look at three talented players who are currently playing for the national team.

Chris Gayle

Cricket lovers from all around the world love watching Gayle bat because when he gets going, there is very little that can be done to stop him. With what seems to be little effort, he is able to dispatch opposition bowlers out of the park. He retired from test cricket five years ago, but he is still giving bowlers nightmares in the shortened versions of the game. In fact, he is considered to be one of the best T20 players ever. Furthermore, he is the only player who has scored a triple hundred in test cricket, a double hundred in the ODI format, and a hundred in the T20 version.

In 103 test matches, he scored 7,214 runs (15 centuries and 37 half-centuries) at an average of 42.18. He has played 301 ODI matches and has scored a whopping 10,480 runs (25 centuries and 54 half-centuries) at an average of 37.83. In the 74 T20I games that he has played, he has scored 1,854 runs (2 centuries and 14 half-centuries) at an average of 29.43 runs. He calls himself the Universe Boss, and we think he has earned the right to do so.

Kemar Roach

Roach, despite his relatively small stature, is your typical West Indies bowler that is capable of bowling up to speeds of 150 kph. He made his test debut back in 2009 and, in 2012, he became the first West Indies player to pick up 10 wickets in a test match since 2005.

In the 67 test matches that he has played to date, Roach has picked up 231 wickets at an average of 27.05. He has played 92 ODI matches and has dismissed 124 batsmen at an average of 30.34. When it comes to T20 cricket, he has only played 11 matches for his national side. In these matches, he picked up 10 wickets at an average of 28.40.

Shimron Hetmyer

He is only 22, but from what little we have seen of him on the international stage, it is clear that he has a bright future ahead of him. In February, 2019, he scored a century against England in 82 balls, which is the fastest century scored by a West Indian against England.

To date, he has played 16 test matches and has scored 838 runs (5 half-centuries) at an average of 27.93. In the 47 ODI matches that he has played, he has scored 1,447 runs (5 centuries and 4 half-centuries) at an average of 35.29. His T20 career hasn't got off to the greatest of starts. In 37 matches he has scored 539 runs at an average of 19.96. However, it is clear that he has the talent to improve on all of his averages.

How Have the Windies Performed on the World Stage?

ICC Cricket World Cup

Year Round Position
1975 Champions 1/8
1979 Champions 1/8
1983 Runners-up 2/8
1987 Round 1 5/8
1992 Round 1 6/9
1996 Semi-finals 4/12
1999 Round 1 9/12
2003 Round 1 9/14
2007 Super 8 6/16
2011 Quarter-finals 8/14
2015 Quarter-finals 8/14
2019 Group Stage 9/10

ICC T20 World Cup

Year Round Position
2007 Group Stage 11/12
2009 Semi-finals 4/12
2010 Super 8 6/12
2012 Champions 1/12
2014 Semi-finals 3/16
2016 Champions 1/16

*The 2016 T20 World Cup took place in India and the final saw the West Indies take on England. The Windies needed 19 runs from the final over to win the match and Carlos Braithwaite stepped up and deposited Ben Stokes into the crowd four times to win the match. This made the West Indies the only side to have won this tournament more than once.

ICC Champions Trophy

Year Round Position
1998 Runners-up 2/9
2000 Round 1 11/11
2002 Round 1 7/12
2004 Champions 1/12
2006 Runners-up 2/10
2009 Round 1 8/8
2013 Round 1 7/8
2017 Did Not Qualify -

*The ICC decided to get rid of this tournament after the 2017 edition as they only want one major global tournament for each format of the game.

Let’s Look at How the West Indies Have Performed Against Everyone Else

Below you will find a complete breakdown of how the West Indies have performed against all of the major cricketing nations in test, ODIs, and T20s.

Test Performances

OpponentMatches PlayedWonLostTiedDrawnWin %
Afghanistan11000100.00
Australia116325812527.58
Bangladesh181240266.67
England160585105136.25
India98303304630.61
New Zealand49131701926.53
Pakistan54182101533.33
South Africa303200710.00
Sri Lanka22400918.18
Zimbabwe10700370.00

* These stats are correct from the 20th October 2021.

ODI Performances

OpponentMatches PlayedWonLostTiedNo ResultWin %
Afghanistan9530162.50
Australia14361763344.64
Bangladesh4121180253.84
England10244520645.83
India13363642449.61
Ireland121010190.91
New Zealand6530280751.72
Pakistan13471603054.10
South Africa6215441225.83
Sri Lanka6331290351.25
Zimbabwe4836101177.66

* These stats are correct from the 20th October 2021.

T20 Performances

OpponentMatches PlayedWonLosttiedNo ResultWin %
Afghanistan7430057.14
Australia161060162.50
Bangladesh12650154.55
England181170061.11
India176100137.50
Ireland7320260.00
New Zealand15383232.14
Pakistan183120320.00
South Africa15690040.00
Sri Lanka14770050.00
Zimbabwe3210066.67

* These stats are correct from the 20th October 2021.

*Looking at the stats in all three formats, it would seem that South Africa are the West Indies bogey team.

How Have the West Indies Cricket Team Been Getting on of Late?

The West Indies started 2021 by losing 3-0 to Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series, but they bounced back from this disappointing result and won the two-match Test series 2-0. They then played Sri Lanka in three T20 games and won 2-1, and then beat the same opponents 3-0 in an ODI series and drew a two-match Test series.

Next up for the Windies was a two-match Test series against South Africa, and they ended up losing both matches quite heavily. They then played each other in five T20I games, and the Saffers came out on top 3-2. Australia were their next opponents, and they got a really impressive 4-1 victory over them in a five-match T20I series, before losing the ODI series 2-1.

They played Pakistan in four T20 games in August, but the weather was terrible and three matches ended with a no result - Pakistan won the only game that was played. They they tied the 2-match Test series. Next up for the West Indies cricket team is the T20 World Cup, where they will be trying to defend the title that they won so dramatically in 2016. After the World Cup, they have a break before welcoming England to the Caribbean for five T20 games.