Windies fans have lost their "buzz": Gavaskar

The recent decline of West Indies cricket has changed the character of the Caribbean fans renowned for their liveliness, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar said on Saturday.

"It could well be that as the West Indians are not winning anymore, the character of the crowd has changed," Gavaskar wrote in his column in the Hindustan Times newspaper on Saturday.

The former Test opener has travelled to the West Indies many times since making a memorable Test debut in 1971 when his batting helped India win the series.

He is currently in West Indies doing television commentary on the series against India.

"There simply is not the same buzz as there was before. "One doesn't hear the good-humoured barracking that made playing and watching a game in the West Indies such a special pleasure."

Gavaskar said West Indian fans always regarded themselves as experts in the game, never short of advice to the players.

"The advice is much less now to visiting teams, now that the West Indies are no longer world champions and thus not invincible," he said.

West Indies, who ruled world cricket from the late 1970's to early 1990's, have steadily declined in the past few seasons, lurching from one defeat to another.

They were routed 3-0 and 2-0 in recent Test series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and currently trail their five-Test series against India 1-0 after losing the second Trinidad game earlier this week.

Record-breaking West Indies batsman Brian Lara, dismissed for a nervous 47 during his side's final day victory chase, at one point asked a group of fans playing music, famously known as Trini Posse, to be quiet.

"Music has always been a part of watching a game in the West Indies," Gavaskar said. "And one felt that Brian Lara lost his rhythm because he asked the Trini Posse to stop playing the music..."

Mail Cricket Editor