The weight of the proud history of cricket in the Caribbean needs to be lifted before Chris Gayle and company can resurrect the future of the game in the West Indies.

Following the trail of destruction left by South Africa on their journey through the Caribbean Isles, there is one aspect in particular which has been consistently more tiresome and discouraging than even the dullest of days in St Kitts; the local pundits' penchant for 'when we' talk and doom and gloom.

There were some seriously long days of cricket in the three-match Test series between South Africa and their hosts, and the tv commentators - the likes of Tony Cozier, Ian Bishop and Jeff Dujon - filled much of that time lamenting the state of the game in the West Indies and highlighting the shortcomings of every local individual, Shiv Chanderpaul aside.

Tony Cozier is a highly likeable character, and extremely knowledgable too, Ian Bishop does a professional job and is easy on the ear while Jeff Dujon's dry wit serves for regular entertainment. Why then do we have to listen to them constantly moan about the state of West Indian cricket? And is it as bad as they make it sound?

The local fans obviously believe it is that bad. Conspicuous by their absence in this, and other recent series, the people of the Caribbean have signalled their dissatisfaction. Even those that have pitched have been shown having a good old letting-off of steam on the sidelines.

Their criticisms are generally fair, and their frustrations understandable, given the level of success to which they became accustomed during the golden age of West Indian cricket. In a period of roughly 15 years, starting in 1980, the men from the Caribbean were unbeaten in a record 29 consecutive Test series. That record stands alone as one which is unlikely to ever be broken with the next best being Australia's string of 16 unbeaten Test series.

Understandable maybe, but the public and pundits need to be realistic and realise that the golden era has come to an end. The present bunch cannot be continuously compared to Richards and Marshall, Lara and Walsh, and the longer the West Indian fans, ex-players and pundits long for yesteryear, the further they will be left behind.

The experts can go on about player management and bad attitudes and the myriad other reasons they have for West Indian cricket being in the state that it is, but are those problems merely symptoms of the golden age experience of past West Indian teams?

Speaking during the ODI series Otis Gibson made the comment: "Talent-wise we're not far behind South Africa, thinking-wise, we're showing that we're very far behind."

The performances of the West Indies A side would seem to prove Gibson right. They lost out by only a narrow margin to South Africa A in a recent ODI series in Bangladesh, having dominated the South African side earlier in the tournament. They have also recently seen success over Ireland, as well as trouncing India A in a 50-over game. So Gibson's comment that the talent is there is not far fetched.

If the West Indian coach is correct, then what is it which has put the West Indian players so far behind in their cricket psyche?

The obvious answer is that the pressure of expectation is simply too large for them to cope with, a problem which is not an issue for the players in the A side. Neither is it an issue for Kieron Pollard in the IPL, the allrounder putting in vastly superior performances for the Mumbai Indians than those he's managed for his country.

It is this pressure of expectation which is fuelled by the criticism from the pundits who seem to feed the gloom hovering above West Indian cricket, providing negative comments which continue to serve as self-fulfilling prophecies.

Parenting would seem to be much like punditry (though to be honest I have had little experience of either). An over-concerned parent who continuously criticises their child is likely to turn that child into something of a rebel - disinterested and underachieving.

The West Indian tendencies to be disinterested, underachieve and at times rebellious, would seem to be symptoms of the expectations put on the players by the success of past generations.

It is time for those with influence over the West Indian psyche, past players, pundits, and adminstrators to lift the gloom on West Indian cricket. There are problems, and those need to be addressed, but it is time instead to focus on and encourage the positives, to allow the undoubted talent to express itself without constant comparison to days gone by.