Rejoice (he says)

Matthew Engel worries about a softness developing among some England supporters:

I was chatting to [one] at Gatwick on the way out. "I hope we don't beat them too badly," he said. "The game needs a strong West Indies team". He was not the first Englishman to express such sentiments to me over the past month.

Not beat them too badly! Here we are, contemplating the possibility of reversing the humiliations of the 1980s with a whitewash (or a red-white-and-bluewash; or, maybe, to match the changing complexions of the [travelling supporters] a beige-pink-and-beetrootwash).

When England suffered two successive blackwashes in the mid-1980s, did any West Indian say: "Don't beat them too badly, Vivi mon"? Did anyone express even a pang of contrition in the 27 years, ending in 2000, during which West Indies held the Wisden Trophy? They did not.

On the other hand, he's not worried about the future of West Indies cricket:

The fact that West Indies are in eclipse after three generations of almost unalloyed brilliance should not alarm the rest of us. Cricket will not disappear here; it is too important to the Caribbean identity, and the economy.

It's in line with the scepticism I registered here a few days ago.