If it wasn't so before, it is becoming all the more frustrating of late to be a diehard West Indies cricket fan. The most recent source of frustration was the West Indies loss of each of the first three matches in the current One Day International Series. This against an Indian team bereft of its premier players.
Despite the absence of four of the players - Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambir and Dhoni - who were instrumental in their emergence as the 2011 ICC World Cup Champions, India coasted to an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Series. The non-presence of top players in the Indian team

has prompted some knowledgeable observers to classify the India squad as a "C" Team, essentially comprised of fringe players who would have been relegated to the sidelines, if the front-liners had been available.
Against such weakened opposition, rational thinking would have suggested that the West Indies might have seized the opportunity to play their best team possible, as a means of securing morale boosting victories. Such is the conundrum of contemporary cricket in the Caribbean however, that the Selectors chose, for a variety of reasons, to sideline four of the Region's most experienced players.
Between them, Chris Gayle (8087 runs from 228 matches) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (8778 runs from 268 matches) have played more ODI matches and scored more runs than the remainder of all those selected to represent the West Indies in the first three lost matches of the Series. Yet for reasons that are mind-boggling, they were relegated to watch proceedings as spectators instead of being on the field as active players.
Their absence from the team was reflected in West Indies scores of 214, 240 and 225 respectively in the first three matches, totals which the Indians easily surpassed to win by the comprehensive margins of four, seven and three wickets with significant overs to spare in all three instances.
As if the decisions to ignore the proven experience and productive capacity of Gayle and Chanderpaul from the batting side weren't mind boggling enough, those pertaining to the team's bowling choices were even more so. In the first three matches the West Indies used a rotation of nine bowlers comprising Davindra Bishoo. Dwayne Bravo, Anthony Martin, Keiron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell Darren Sammy and Lendl Simmons.
In combination these nine players had taken a total of 351 ODI wickets between them, an average of 39 per bowler. It is worth noting however, that apart from Dwayne Bravo's 136 and Ravi Rampaul's 67, none of the other's individual tally was in excess of 50 wickets.
Yet in all of their wisdom the West Indies Selectors found it prudent to completely ignore Chris Gayle (156), Fidel Edwards (60) and Jerome Taylor (98) in their bowling plans. Apparently the 314 ODI wickets these three had taken in total was insufficient to merit their selection.
The reasons advanced by the Selectors for Gayle's and Taylor's omissions have been previously documented. Chanderpaul, they reasoned, has reached his past due date as an ODI player and his exclusion would allow exposure to a younger player.
Edwards, having fully recovered from the injury that kept him out of international cricket for over two years, has yet to experience any playing time. Sidelined for all five ODIs and two Tests of the preceding Series against Pakistan, he is still awaiting exposure against the Indians.
Presumably he is being held back for the three forthcoming Tests against the Indians. The venues for the Tests will be Jamaica, Barbados and Dominica, wickets which ideally will be well suited to his phenomenal pace.
Again logic would have suggested that after the losses of the first three matches of either the Pakistan or Indian Series, Edwards would have been introduced in the remaining two ODI fixtures. That would have provided him with useful match exposure after such a lengthy layoff. Such reasoning which would seem apparent to a mere schoolboy, seems however to be lost on the current crop of West Indies selectors.
Televised coverage of the matches played to date in both the Pakistan and Indian Series revealed stands that were glaringly empty. Less than 200 spectators were reportedly present to witness the start of the crucial Series-deciding third ODI against India, which the visitors eventually won. Played in Antigua, the birth land of such recent and noted West Indian cricket heroes as Sir Vivian Richards, Curtly Ambrose and Richie Richardson, it was a statement of profound significance.
On an island not noted for the widespread availability of entertainment options, cricket matches involving the West Indies have always been regarded as guaranteed value. For Antiguans who so love their cricket to be so noticeable by their absence speaks volumes of the declining fortunes of what once reigned as almost a religion amongst peoples within the Region. Loss of interest in cricket by a true bred West Indian is almost as inconceivable as a Brazilian being disinterested in football.
By the time the 1st Test starts in Jamaica on June 20th the Indians with their "C" team may well have inflicted an ODI drubbing on their Caribbean hosts. The promise of Chris Gayle's return to action in front of his home crowd may however be sufficient to rekindle the interest of the Jamaican fans in the Series. As the captain of a West Indies team that has produced such unsatisfactory results against a notably weakened opposition, Darren Sammy may be in for a rude reception from the Jamaican spectators. He will be hoping that in the remaining matches of the Series his own performances can be of a standard sufficient to ward off further criticism of his right to be captain of the team.
Many observers, myself included, remain unconvinced that Sammy merits his selection as player let alone as captain. Certainly not as a captaincy replacement for Chris Gayle. During his relatively short stint as captain, Gayle's leadership was sufficient to allow the highly experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul to rate him as the very best he has ever played under.
The return of Gayle, Chanderpaul and Edwards for the Tests against India will hopefully provide a boost to the West Indies fortunes. If they play their best available team and are provided with pitches that more favor their strengths than those of the Indians, the West Indies should prevail. Failure to do so will only further increase the frustration that has now become the plight of the team's rapidly dwindling fans.

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan will miss the third Test against England with a broken thumb, team manager Anura Tennekoon confirmed on Tuesday.
The tourists, who are 1-0 down in the three-match series, will instead be led by former captain Kumar Sangakkara, who stepped down after the World Cup final defeat by India, at the Rose Bowl when the third Test starts tomorrow.
Dilshan had been expected to miss the match after twice being hit on the thumb by England fast bowler Chris Tremlett while making 193 - the highest Test score by a Sri Lankan at Lord's - in the drawn second Test.
He then sat out the drawn three-day tour match against Essex at Chelmsford and the tourists on Tuesday ruled out his playing.
Summary results and upcoming schedule
1st Test: Eng v SL at Cardiff - May 26-30, 2011
Sri Lanka 400 and 82; England 496/5d
England won by an innings and 14 runs
2nd Test: Eng v SL at Lord's - Jun 3-7, 2011
Eng 486 and 335/7d; Sri Lanka 479 and 127/3
Match drawn
3rd Test: Eng v SL at Southampton - Jun 16-20
Match scheduled to begin at 10:00 GMT
Worcs v Sri Lankans at Worcester
Jun 22, 2011 at 9:45 GMT
Only T20I: England v Sri Lanka at Bristol
Jun 25, 2011 at| 13:30 GMT
1st ODI: England v Sri Lanka at The Oval
Jun 28, 2011 at 12:00 GMT
2nd ODI: England v Sri Lanka at Leeds
Jul 1, 2011 at 09:45 GMT