A miracle may yet occur and propel them into the semi-finals, but undoubtedly, it was wishful thinking and emotion, rather than any empirical evidence, that convinced fans that the West Indies had turned the proverbial corner and would bring a fresh approach to the World Twenty20 tournament.

For, having watched their display against Sri Lanka in their first Super Eight match on Friday, I am now firmly convinced that this crop of players lack the leadership skills and initiative commensurate with natural ball-players, and unfortunately, are sadly devoid of an intrinsic understanding of the game. Consequently, it seems unlikely that some of them will ever be consistent at the international level, regardless of the coach, the batting or bowling order, or the captain, despite our fervent hopes.

Simultaneously, however, I appreciate that a logical reason for this unveiled optimism from desperate fans was that the shortened version of the game is more conducive to an upset victory, with teams not having that much time to recover from an early setback, as observed by Ireland’s coach Phil Simmons, and with which I corroborate.

To the shrewd cricket analyst, the rain-shortened preliminary-round game against England — who smashed their way to an impressive 191, only to lose to an undeserving home side courtesy of the controversial Duckworth/Lewis Method last Monday — critically foreshadowed Friday’s tragic comedy of errors which saw the West Indies go down with a whimper, and certainly not a bang.

Interestingly, the inability of the West Indies to stem the flow of runs against Sri Lanka — who raced to a belligerent 195 — and England was the critical motif in those games and points to the mediocrity of our bowlers and ineffectual captaincy on the one hand, and on the other, the quality of the batsmen who will consistently be on parade in international cricket.

Additionally, it is to their discredit that at this juncture the West Indies have conceded two of the highest totals in a tournament that also features Afghanistan, Ireland and Bangladesh.

The harsh reality is that with the exception of the genuinely fast Kemar Roach, and considering the long lay-off of Jerome Taylor, whose loss of pace has seemingly affected his confidence, line and length, the West Indies bowlers have just not been up to scratch so far.

In fact, with the usually dependable Dwayne Bravo just returning to peak fitness — having suffered a long injury and subsequently being sidelined by his IPL team due to poor form, slow bowlers like Kieron Pollard — Darren Sammy and Suliemann Benn were left to the mercy of the ruthless Kumar Sangakkara, Mahala Jayawardene and company.

Our batsmen are likewise having an ordinary tournament, with their wilting under pressure a puzzling contradiction of their penchant for chasing runs — even after winning the toss on a good batting strip — which seems an implicit concession of defeat.

However, the real disappointment of the Sri Lanka game was not so much the defeat by 57 runs — a mammoth total in the context of the T20 game — but the manner in which the team succumbed.

Fielding first, the West Indies floored at least four clear chances and failed to convert any of the few half-chances. Further, apart from bowling too short, too wide or too full, the bowlers clearly forgot to ‘mix it up’ and occasionally take some pace off the ball.

Again, the bowling lacked variety and never seriously challenged either the Sri Lankan or English batsmen, with Bravo, Pollard and Sammy all offering the same military medium deliveries.

The climax, of course, was the embarrassing mix-up involving wicketkeeper Andre Fletcher and Wavell Hinds, who conspired to muff a ‘sitter’ through sheer lack of communication, and instead watched like helpless schoolboys while the ball fell harmlessly mere inches from both.

When the Windies took to the crease, there was much talk among the commentators about the batting order. However, this was ultimately a non-issue, with the specialist batsmen failing to apply themselves in the context of a huge total on a perfect batting strip, and in the end, succumbing to the wiles of Angelo Mathews, Mendez and Lasith Malinga.

With the team assured of at least two more matches, there is little time for lengthy post mortems.

Rather, a fervent hope among organisers and fans is for the home team to abide a bit longer in the interest of regional pride and the tournament itself, which, by the way, is a far cry from the staid atmosphere which prevailed when the region hosted the 50-50 format back in 2007.