The usual sentiment in the Caribbean and elsewhere as well is that cricket talent abounds in the region. That’s a lie. There is a distinct shortage of cricket talent in the West Indies and that is why we are where we are, near the bottom of the world rankings.

Admittedly, it could be argued that the talent is there and is just not being uncovered. But that makes little difference, and the main issue is that there is not an abundance of cricketing ability available to represent the region in a sport it dominated for years.

The latest manifestation of this deficiency is the West Indies’ failure to qualify for this year’s Cricket World Cup and the recent dismal showing of the Test team against India in Dominica. Many considered it an indignity that the once great team had to play qualifying matches in the first place. But this was not the first time. Four years ago they barely made it through and might not have made it at all were it not for a few close umpiring calls.

The point is that the malaise isn’t new, and the failure to make the World Cup isn’t all that surprising. The West Indies has been a bad team, in all three formats, for a while now and could well be for some time.

The production line that rolled out the greats of the past like gushes from a flood has slowed to a trickle. Giants who bowled like the wind have been replaced by men producing less heat and less discomfort for opposition players. And batters who often took on the best in the game with aplomb have been succeeded by inconsistent players who are a step below in quality.

The result is that the West Indies are no longer good at cricket.

That may be hard for some in the Caribbean to stomach, but it is true. The West Indies are now a bad team, hardly any better than many of the so-called minnows, such as Scotland and Zimbabwe. We are just as likely to beat them as they are to beat us, while it is mostly surprising whenever we achieve victory over teams like India and Australia.

Almost everyone involved with the team has been singled out for fault during the long period of demise. Administrators, selectors, coaches, captains, and players have all been blamed at some point or other for the sorry state of Caribbean cricket.

It’s not difficult, of course, to cast blame. It’s easy to say it’s the selector’s fault, but what are they to do when the resources available are inadequate? As for the captain: What is he to do with underperforming players? His most cunning schemes will come to naught if his team is incapable of executing them properly. What of the coach? He has to work with the raw material with which he is presented; he can’t turn water into wine. And those who think blame lies solely with the administrator’s are mistaken, though they must hold some responsibility as those overseeing the direction of Caribbean cricket.

We know it’s not their fault because during the many years of descent we have changed captains, selectors, coaches, players, and administrators a number of times, and yet the rot continues. A few home Test series victories, most notably over England, and two Twenty20 Word Cup wins have served as mitigation to the general despair. But those results are nothing we should hold on to now. What we need is to seriously study why we are not producing the high-quality cricketers that other nations do.

During the first innings of the first Test of the current series against India, we were shown a list of first-class batters in India averaging way over 40 — one averaging over 80 — who can’t get into the Test team. None of our current Test players average 40 or above in first-class cricket. In fact, the last player to exceed that level is Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who played his last game for the West indies in May 2015. Indeed, the current occupant of the important number three batting position has a first-class average of just over 27. In the meantime, India had a 21-year-old debutant opening batsman, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made 171 in difficult conditions in a foreign land. His first-class average is 84 from 16 matches, with 10 centuries.

West Indies cricket has fallen into a deep, dark hole from which it’ll have a hell of a time climbing out. There is obviously no easy fix, and so getting it back to a respectable level will take some time and some doing. It will require much thought and much action. I once thought the introduction of a professional league in the region would have significantly improved the level of cricket. I was wrong. I have seen no noticeable improvement and the regional teams have certainly not got any better since the inception of the Professional Cricket League in the 2014-2015 season.

The problems, it seems, are much more complicated than the solutions that have been shot at them in the past. I think there must be simple things that can be done to make the situation better. The Test team, for example, would benefit from the inclusion of players like Brandon King and Nicolas Pooran. Does anyone really think that King would not be a better candidate to bat at three than the current incumbent? Raymon Reifer is a good, hard-working player, but I doubt many people think he’s a better batter than King. With limited options there needs to be better use of the available resources.

Still, in the end, the real goal must be to enlarge the pool of players with real ability, especially with the need to service all three formats of the game. The talent pool is dwindling, I believe, because interest in the game is waning. There are many activities nowadays that capture the interest of the young; cricket is not one of them.

Rekindling interest and participation could help revive the sport and ultimately lead to an improved level of play in the region and to better West Indies teams.

Garfield Robinson is a Jamaican living in the US who writes on cricket for a few Indian and English publications. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or garfield.v.robinson@gmail.com.