BLOWING IN THE WINDIES: The West Indies won the first two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and '79 before things starting to turn against the Caribbean team in the 1983 final, which India won against the odds. Since then, it's been mostly downhill for the nations that combined to bring the Calypso kings to the cricket world.
The West Indies didn't reach the semifinals in '87 or '92 but somehow, after capitulating in a shocking 73-run loss to the amateurs from Kenya in the group stage in '96, recovered to reach the semifinals before losing to Australia from a strong position. They haven't been back to the last four since.
There are no great expectations for 2015.
The squad was thrown into turmoil with the ill-judged walkout from a tour of India in October, sparking threats of sanctions and legal action, and was thrashed in a recent series in South Africa. Left-arm spinner Sunil Narine withdrew from the World Cup squad due to concern over his bowling action.
"We are still a bunch of confident guys," veteran Darren Sammy said in South Africa. "With the amount of match-winners we have in our squad, we could be a force to be reckoned with."
Jason Holder was made captain — at age 23 — and will have to mature quickly to have any chance of marshaling the squad which crashed to a nine-wicket loss to England in a warmup match in Sydney.
