Dealing with the missing Caribbean flavour at World Cup they once ruled

Two months after an eventful but forgettable 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, Dave Martins, of the Tradewinds band, recorded a calypso named "Take a Rest" and couriered it to radio stations across the Caribbean.

- Somshuvra Laha

Typically, calypsos celebrate the good times and honour the greats, like Lord Relator's "Gavaskar" or King Short Shirt's "Vivian Richards". But this was satirical, intended to take on the West Indies cricket board for all its wrongdoings that had sullied the name of a sport that once united countries in the region. Criticising the board for financial mismanagement, for making "Holding and Viv Richards cry" and holding it accountable for the rift with Chris Gayle then, this calypso was an emotional outburst that almost penned its own lyrics, asking everyone responsible for the mess to take a rest'.

In the 16 years since that World Cup, West Indies slipped and tumbled till they ran out of ground, ultimately ushering in a time when an ODI World Cup without them is no longer unthinkable. This is the first World Cup without the Windies team.

It was entirely their doing, ignoring two formats that gave West Indies cricket everything at the altar of T20s; depriving themselves of everything needed to stay relevant. The slide was markedly evident in 2019 - they made it to the tournament via qualifiers when West Indies dragged themselves from one venue to another, stringing just two wins out of nine league matches.