From Akash Kaware, Canada

© Revolver Entertainment

In 1995, West Indies lost their tag of undisputed champions of Test cricket to Australia in a seismic series and started the slide down a slippery slope of defeat and despair that continues to this day. For someone like me who started following cricket only in 1996, the current bunch of strugglers in maroon is a much more familiar sight than the juggernaut that steamrolled anything and everything that came in its way for a mind-boggling period of 15 years.

For young cricket fans and old, Fire in Babylon, the much-acclaimed documentary on Clive Lloyd’s great West Indies team, is a delicious glimpse into the rosy past of a proud group of cricketing nations. The best thing about the documentary is that it is not a bunch of doddery old cricket historians talking about this dominant team in flowery language. The speakers are the very people whom the documentary is about, the players and to some extent the fans. Viv Richards and Michael Holding are the show-stealers, but Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Derryck Murray, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge all make an appearance. Add to that a bunch of truly eccentric characters like Bunny Wailer, Frank I, some Calypso artists and groundsmen, and the narration of the documentary is representative of the spirit of West Indies cricket in a way a historian or statistician could never have been. In fact, when one groundsman pronounces, “When West Indies lose, we cry tears maan”, you can’t help but be moved and wonder how many tears he must be shedding these days.

And then of course there are those unforgettable images; Michael Holding with that graceful run-up, which was a thing of beauty to everyone other than the hapless batsman at the other end; Richards, helmetless and chewing gum, getting hit on the face by a bouncer, and hooking the very next ball for six; Malcolm Marshall bowling with a broken arm in a plaster and batting with one hand; That famous picture of Roberts, Holding, Croft and Garner together, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse; Each time a batsman had his jaws, nose, ribs, hands or other features rearranged - and there are plenty of such instances through the 88-minute documentary - the watcher is sure to wince, yet feel a visceral pleasure. One can only imagine what went through the minds of the batsmen themselves.

Exhilarating as it is to watch, the documentary is not without its flaws. The cultural impact of the success of the West Indies team and cricket’s role in bringing together those independent countries in the Caribbean is undeniable. But the aspect of ‘Black Power’, the portrayal of the West Indian success as a payback for years of oppression by their colonial masters is a tad overplayed.

Many players in the documentary talk about taking out their anger on the ball and the batsmen, but the fact is, no amount of anger can make a batsman play like Richards did at The Oval in 1976 or Greenidge did at Lord’s in 1984. They could play like that because they were supremely talented players, their skills honed by hours of practice. After all, when a batsman is facing a bowler bowling at 90mph, if he is thinking about the weight of history rather than the ball itself, it is hard to imagine him scoring any runs at all, forget about breaking records!

You can try to find a higher political meaning in all events with the passage of time, but in this case, the documentary attempts to attribute the phenomenal success of the team to socio-political factors, rather than more believable ones like outstanding skills with bat and ball, and years of hard work. Ditto with the intimidating bowling. Throughout the documentary, fear and intimidation are a common theme. Batsmen are shown hopping all over the place to avoid bumpers, many are seen getting hit and poor old Brian Close, an elderly, but awfully brave English batsman is seen getting a thorough working over from Holding.

Yet there was more to the West Indian attack than bouncers. Roberts was, in Sunil Gavaskar’s words, the cleverest fast bowler there ever was. When Holding took those 14 wickets on a featherbed of a track at the Oval in 1976, he did so by sending those batsmen to the pavilion, not to the hospital. In fact, a look at the scorecard of the particular match would tell you that of those 14 wickets, 12 were either bowled or LBW, suggesting a bowler targeting the stumps rather than batsmen’s heads. Marshall was not exactly a brainless brute either. He, along with Dennis Lillee, was probably the most complete fast bowler the game has ever seen. To the uninitiated, it would appear that the West Indian quicks were all about intimidation. But they were more, so much more.

Also, the portrayal of the West Indies team before 1975 as ‘Calypso cricketers’, a bunch of players who could entertain but not win, was shocking. The tour of Australia in 1975-76, which resulted in a chastening 5-1 defeat, largely the handiwork of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson, is said to have galvanized the team to come together, and go on to conquer everything there was there was to conquer on a cricket field. However, it must be noted that though West Indies became truly invincible under Lloyd, they had been winning more than they had been losing since the time of Frank Worrell, who doesn’t find more than a passing mention. The 1976 shellacking of England is said to be the ultimate triumph against their old colonial masters, when in fact, they had beaten England in England in 1963, 1966 and 1973 as well.

A movie might be forgiven for taking dramatic liberties, a documentary cannot. However, for all its faults that might irk a knowledgeable cricket fan, the documentary still makes for delightful viewing. After all, when the subjects themselves are so fascinating, you hardly need to create drama. Sometimes true stories are enough to give you goosebumps.

Click here for ESPNcricinfo's review of the documentary.

From Ryon S. Cupidore, West Indies

There is always hope © Associated Press

I am a West Indian.

I have grown up with stories of some of the best men to ever play the game of cricket, embellishments doing no justice to the real thing. I have heard and read of the famous victories and series of years gone by. I have spent many an hour online reliving some of those moments through streaming video.

I have watched Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose make the best batsmen in the world look like schoolboys. I have seen Brian Lara make fielding captains chew their nails down to nothing. I have seen Shivnarine Chanderpaul frustrate bowlers into the ground.

I have also been through contract disputes. I have suffered through several humiliating losses to lower-ranked teams. I have been witness to some of the most spectacular batting collapses in cricketing history from undefeatable positions.

But I am still, a West Indian.

And I am not one to live in the past. Yet its legacy, especially that of recent times, forces me to jump for joy at any victory, even if it is one with the series long decided. One match matters little to the opposition, but it means the world to be. Such is the life of one who wishes for the glory days once again. I am drowning and snatching at straws, some might say.

But what reason is there for any other reaction? There has never been a time in recent memory when the players and the board agree on anything. It goes back to the old Cable and Wireless days and the relationship has hardly been satisfactory. The current state is as such, with Chris Gayle’s future seemingly heading towards freelance T20 work. I fear that he might not be the last such player from the region with such an outlook. Jerome Taylor may yet go in that direction. Yet the team, my team, seems to be playing good cricket, at least more consistently than years gone by.

The Indian ODI series may be over, but there were flashes and patches of brilliance, as always. Players caught the imagination and good performances were there to behold. Andre Russell’s blistering 92, Darren Bravo’s shift from first into fourth gear, Anthony Martin’s accurate bowling and livewire fielding. There may be a lot of complaints about Darren Sammy as captain, but the fact is that the team has played good basic cricket with him at the head and there has been some success recently.

I must be crazy to say that. Two lost ODI series and a less-than-spectacular exit from the World Cup is hardly what anyone would call success. They make the interspersed victories almost null and void. Still, if the straw is there, I will hang onto it. Because for the first time in what seems like forever, there are a lot of positives in the way this team goes about things.

The team is, apart from a few players, very inexperienced. But the potential is present. Very few will deny that Devendra Bishoo is one of the most promising players to have made his debut this season. Or that Ravi Rampaul and Lendl Simmons’ re-entry into the international game finds them in better form both physically and mentally. Even Marlon Samuels and Carlton Baugh seem to be getting better with time spent in the middle. And for the first time in ages, there actually seems to be competition for a spot in the team. This is a necessary thing for any team aspiring to be at the top of the rankings. Only those with the best form, and the best potential, should be selected.

But that potential must also be realised in order to build a strong team. It is not built on constant bickering between the WIPA and the WICB. They are two halves of the same whole, and until they realise this, West Indies cricket suffers. And so do the fans. Cricket has always been huge in the region, but the fighting, the contract disputes, the second-string teams, the persistence with out-of-form players...it must end. Then, perhaps, I will consider paying a sky-high price to watch the team, my team, at the Queen’s Park Oval. And perhaps I will not be alone in my consideration.

I am a West Indian. And I am not alone.

I grew up on stories of legends. I observed, in my lifetime, the downfall. I look to the future now. For the time being at least, the future of West Indies cricket is shining brightly. But for that future to come to pass, someone, anyone must first fix the present.

From Akash Kaware, Canada

Rohit Sharma displayed plenty of maturity against West Indies © Associated Press

There is something deeply satisfying about watching a player translating obvious potential into performance, and I’m sure many cricket fans in India felt that satisfaction watching Rohit Sharma bat in the five-match series against West Indies. It might be premature to say that consistent runs against a mediocre side full of honest toilers rather than fearsome predators is a sign of Rohit finally coming of age. But for a while now, it has been evident that the quality of the opposition comes very low in the list of contributing factors to Rohit’s successes and failures. He has always looked just as capable of thrashing Brett Lee out of an attack as of throwing his wicket away off a rank long hop.

More important than the number or runs he scored and the quality of the attack he faced was the situations he scored his runs in. Twice in the series, he took charge of a wobbling chase and returned to the pavilion undefeated when victory was sealed. All the glorious strokes that had long ago marked him out as India’s next big batting hope were there to see, but the much-needed injection of steel and the ability to adapt to situations was something of a pleasant surprise.

Rohit’s form in the one-dayers makes one wish he was part of India’s Test campaign in the Caribbean as well. A debut against a none-too-threatening opposition would have helped him ease his way into Test cricket. But during the time it took Rohit to find the way he seemed to have lost earlier, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and S. Badrinath made all the right moves and have rightfully claimed their places in the squad ahead of him in the absence of the big guns.

Rohit’s chance in Test cricket will come soon though. And when it does, there is someone from the English camp he might want to look up to – Ian Bell. As with Rohit, no one has ever doubted the immense potential Bell has. Right from the start of his Test career, he seemed to have all the strokes in the book, an immaculate technique and the kind of elegance you cannot practice but are born with. He started his career with a bang, and a couple of not outs against Bangladesh in 2005 left him with a ludicrous average of 297 after three Tests. It was too good to last, and while England rejoiced after regaining the Ashes in the epic series that followed, everything fell apart for Bell personally. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne toyed with him like a rag doll, but then, they have toyed with many better batsmen than Bell. (Click here for Ian Bell's series averages.)

As if that wasn’t enough, he was cruelly nicknamed ‘The Shermanator’ by Warne, for his visibly timid presence on the field. That series did not completely break him. He continued to score runs, very pretty runs one might add, against all kind of attacks, including against Australia in the 2006-07 Ashes series, but quickly developed a reputation as a fair-weather performer, who crumbled at the first sign of pressure. The fact that his first ten Test centuries came in innings when at least one other English batsman had also scored a hundred did not help matters either. A daft shot in the debacle in Jamaica against West Indies in early 2009, when England rolled over for 51 to concede the series proved to be the tipping point, and Bell was dropped from the side.

The Bell who came back into the Test side later that year was a changed batsman. There were a couple of customary half-centuries against the Australians in the 2009 Ashes, but it was in the series that followed against South Africa that the tide really turned for him. A beautifully-paced 140 in Durban, even though it again followed Alastair Cook’s century, was instrumental in England’s innings victory. That innings was followed by possibly the defining innings of his career till date, an over-my-dead-body kind of five-hour rearguard that saved the Cape Town Test for his team, and finally proved that the pretty boy had turned into a gritty man.

Bell has been a changed man ever since. If ever someone could prove that aggression does not always equate to bravado on the field, it has been Bell. His body language is still quietly confident rather than in-your-face, and to borrow a commentators’ cliché, he has let his bat do all the talking. Since last year’s Ashes series, the English batting line-up has been churning out runs like a well-oiled machine, and Bell has played his part to perfection at every time of asking, not always with mountains of runs like his mates Cook and Jonathan Trott, but with innings that the occasions demanded. Even in the current Test series against Sri Lanka, the second Test at Lord’s showcased his value to this English side. In the first innings, with England wobbling at 22 for 3, he ground out 52 unspectacular runs that laid the foundation for Matt Prior’s assault later on. In the second innings of the same game, with England looking for quick runs, Bell played a charming little innings of 57 off just 43 balls. Clearly, this is a man who knows his game very well now, and can take command of the very situations in which he would have been expected to crumble not so long ago.

Very often, we come across players who we want to see doing well, no matter which team they represent. I must confess, I would be a very happy man if Bell scored four centuries against India in the Test series later this year, provided India wins the series. Rohit has many legends to look up to in his own dressing room, but as someone who has managed to make his mark in world cricket despite being labeled ‘gifted, but soft’ in the past, Bell might not be a bad example for him to emulate.

From Philip and Alan Sutherland, Australia

Old man WG played till he was 60 © Getty Images

Simon Katich’s name being cut from the contracts list, Sanath Jayasuriya’s final fling in ODIs, and Martin Crowe’s decision to return to first-class cricket in New Zealand, have all raised the issue of age in the game. That, in itself, is not entirely new. In the first-ever Test, New South Walesbatsman Ned Gregory made his debut as a 37-year old. In addition to his making the first duck, it is not surprising given his age (which made him the third-oldest in the match), and his family commitments, that he did not play again.

Three Tests and over three years later the bold doctor, WG Grace, made his debut at a comparatively young age of 32. His sporadic international career concluded with the 60th Test at Trent Bridge in 1899. He was almost 52 and “the ground was getting too far away”, however, not quite far enough to stop him from turning out in first-class matches until he reached the grand age of 60.

Don Blackie, the offspinner from Bendigo in the Victorian goldfields, made his debut at the age of 46 at the SCG in the second Test of 1928-29, the game subsequently made famous by the selectors excluding a young Don Bradman. Bradman had made his debut in Brisbane a fortnight earlier, along with medium-paced spinner “Dainty” Ironmonger, who at 45 years, had started his first-class career when Bradman was an infant.

Ironmonger’s 26-year first-class career was surpassed in length by, Cyril Washbrook, the Lancastrian stalwart. Washbrook, who played 592 first-class matches, was known as a technically sound right-hand batsman and an excellent cover fielder, although his fielding must surely have slowed a tad by the time he approached his 50th birthday. Washbrook’s career was interrupted by the Second World War, before he returned to enjoy his best two seasons in 1946 and 1947.

By contrast, Bob Simpson’s career ended on 31st January, 1968, after he batted down the order rather than opening. But, with the split due to World Series Cricket, Simpson was to return almost ten years later, on December 2, 1977, to captain Australia against India at Brisbane at the age of 41. Opening the batting for the opposition was Sunil Gavaskar, still regarded by some as India’s best-ever batsman. With 125 Tests and 108 ODI matches to his name, Gavaskar played his final international game in Mumbai at the age of 38.

Gavaskar’s successor as the ‘Little Master’, Sachin Tendulkar, now 38, is still apparently improving. In the last two-and-a-half years of his Test career, Tendulkar has averaged over 70. In all probability, Tendulkar may continue for a few years yet. Four more years would see him well past 40 and about the same age that Jayasuriya currently is.

Jayasuriya’s last hurrah is scheduled for June 28, 2011 at The Oval. He will be two days shy of his 42nd birthday, but just a youngster compared to Martin Crowe. It was a shame that injuries forced the retirement of New Zealand’s best-ever batsman when he still had so much to offer. Although, his mooted return is merely to the ranks of the Plunkett Shield, at 48 it would still require one heck of an effort. One cannot, however, but wish him luck should he decide to go ahead. In his prime, he was one of the most watchable batsmen anywhere and a lesson in technique to almost all.

One hopes, also, that Katich can continue to contribute to Australia’s Sheffield Shield. Katich has been a fine servant of New South Wales for many years and it would be shame to lose him. In these days of ultra-professionalism, while a burgeoning body-mass index is definitely out, one hopes that the game can still offer its best players a decent middle-age (career-wise) spread.

From Nishad Jayasundara, United States

The transition is shaping up to be a tough one © PA Photos

For Sri Lanka, the year 2011 began with fireworks. The small island nation was in the World Cup final for the third time, a feat only bettered by Australia. For several decades, cricket had put Sri Lanka on the map for all the right reasons. It was all good news, only until Nuwan Kulasekara dropped Gautam Gambhir on that special evening in Mumbai. The moment that ball hit the ground next to the diving Kulasekera, Sri Lankan cricket took a turn for the worse.

A sport that has captivated a nation has been on a downward spiral over the past few months. The decline has been so rapid that the Sri Lankan team hit a new low by losing ten wickets in less than 25 overs against England. It was gut wrenching. When Sri Lanka lost the World Cup final, the country's president remarked, "we didn't want to make a billion Indian brothers and sisters unhappy". While the president and his fellow citizens were trying to find some humour in a heart-breaking loss, Sri Lankan cricket had begun to fall apart.

One of the most illustrious captains of Sri Lanka resigned. The chairman of selectors followed, together with rest of the committee. The coach also put in his papers. Through all this, the greatest spinner of all, the wizard of the doosra, retired. The best genuine quick bowler Sri Lanka has produced said goodbye to Test cricket without giving himself a chance to prove he is the best. Sri Lankan cricket suddenly looked like a ship with a broken mast trapped in a storm, literally short-staffed on sailors and without a captain to command them. Though Tillakaratne Dilshan stepped up to the plate announcing an early exit from IPL, the storm has refused to relent.

Lasith Malinga’s retirement from Tests - whether the motivation was to secure his own financial future or physical health, or both - left the Sri Lankan attack on board to England looking paper thin. In the two warm-up games, when everyone gave Sri Lanka just an outside chance of surviving the English fast men or denting their batting line-up, the visitors pulled off two stunning victories. However, despite that, they were exposed; the weakness against the moving ball, and the difficulty finding right lengths to bowl on seaming tracks with the unfamiliar Duke ball, was apparent throughout.

The weaknesses continued to the big stage. What was supposed to be the biggest strength of the Sri Lankan team - the batting - failed them when it was most needed. Back home, on the street corners or in the parliament, questions will be raised. Fingers will be pointed. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene’s commitment to Test cricket - as they arrived late from the IPL for an important tour - will no doubt be discussed. While selecting five bowlers to address the lack of depth in the attack appeared to be the right move, the team management will have to answer for the lack of variety in a line-up that was missing Suraj Randiv and Chanaka Welegedara.

How could a team lose the plot so woefully? "If you understand what goes on in Sri Lanka cricket behind the scenes you'd be amazed how well these guys play," Stuart Law, the interim coach, recently echoed the sentiments of his predecessor Trevor Bayliss. One should also be amazed at the millions who continue to follow the game in Sri Lanka, given the whirlwind tours Sri Lanka Cricket take them through more often than not. Resignations, retirements, injuries, and the allegations of match-fixing followed by more last minute injuries, reports of failed drug tests and finally a dispiriting innings defeat will test the patience of the most ardent fan. Off-field distractions should not be an excuse for results, however. Sri Lanka will bounce back, they are capable. For a team that went through the trauma of the Lahore attacks, a rather peaceful English attack ought to be less frightening. They just have to believe.