TRINIDAD and Tobago might not win the Champions League T20 tournament under way in India, but they have helped to improve the battered reputation of West Indian cricket. At the same time they strengthened the case for breaking up West Indies as a cricketing entity and leaving each nation to its own devices. After all, West Indies exists largely for cricketing purposes. Otherwise it is a region with its own complexities and complexes loosely bound together by geography, history and common practices, but as prone to self-interest as any other collection of countries. Moreover, one of the West Indies’ most prominent contributors, Guyana, is actually a South American nation struggling to recover from the toppling decades ago by the British secret service of a duly elected leader.

Under Daren Ganga’s bold and intelligent leadership, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) topped their league by trouncing a Somerset team that seemed to consist almost entirely of South Africans and squeaking home against Adam Gilchrist’s Deccan Chargers, a side that contains several brilliant but ageing players and featuring Andrew Symonds, whose offerings were predictably negligible. Along the way the underdogs played bright and audacious cricket. Ganga and company relied on spinners of all shapes and sizes, a strategy that worked superbly both on a pitch as dry as a banker’s memoirs and subsequently on a firmer track.

Here, by the way, was confirmation that spinners have a role to play both in Caribbean cricket and in these compressed capers. Trinidad has always smiled on spin, and over the years it has served them well. Still, it was encouraging to see young tweakers daring the batsmen to do their worst, and often emerging with the plum. It was a reminder of the resilience of these teasing practitioners. As anyone foolish enough to enter a classroom could confirm, kindergarten teachers need the patience of the ancients to survive a single day. Spinners, too, must be phlegmatic for 10 torments accompany every triumph. But they keep bouncing back and have become a significant force in these cheerful frivolities. Slow bowlers reduce the range of shots available to batsmen and stop them plundering fearlessly by creating doubt.

Besides its array of unsung tweakers, T&T has fielded the Bravo brothers, two fine and splendidly named all-rounders with plenty of cricket in them.

Dwayne, the older and more famous sibling, delivered a nerveless last over to thwart Deccan’s last charge. Wisely, he relied not on thinly disguised slower balls and other overrated contemporary tripe, but on precisely pitched yorkers. Besides this pair the Trinidadians depended upon young Simmons, an upright paceman with ice in his brains and skill in his bones.

Ganga’s captaincy has been another asset to his team. Seizing the opportunity presented to previously hidden players, he has proven his worth.

To watch him inspire his side, place a slip fielder even in the final overs, and generally instil confidence was to regret that he had not been blessed with a little more batting talent for then the wretchedness that assails West Indian cricket might have been avoided. Clearly he is a man of calibre, a quality in short supply nowadays in Caribbean cricket.

For that matter, to watch Trinidad and Tobago was to observe their pride.

Combining African and Indian, honouring the flag of their nation, respecting their history, accepting their responsibilities, representing with distinction, the team played with passion and has advanced beyond any reasonable expectation. All the more reason for T&T to turn its back upon the endless laziness, arrogance and incompetence that has ruined West Indian cricket and to go it alone. All the more reason for Guyana and Barbados to consider their positions. What on earth is there to lose?

Meanwhile, news arrives of a breakthrough in the talks between West Indian players and officials. Apparently it might after all be possible to send the strongest team to Australia next month. Well, there’s a surprise. These crass, ill-advised cricketers enjoy touring Australia, with its beaches, crowds and other attractions. They turned up for a Test series in England in body but not mind, let alone heart. They walked away from the Champions Trophy, thereby letting down hosts, sponsors, spectators and other competitors. Now they want to go Down Under. The cynicism is mind-boggling.

Duty means nothing to them.

If there is an ounce of sense left in West Indian cricket, they will replace their captain and choose as many as possible of the players who tried their hardest at the Champions Trophy. If Trinidad does not break away, then the selectors ought to consider appointing Ganga as captain. He might not score heavily, but he will lead the team in the right direction and so might help to rebuild a badly damaged cricket culture.

Peter Roebuck is an international correspondent based in the midlands.