The history of West Indies cricket begins in the early 1880’s, when a West Indian team was formed which toured Canada and USA. Officially however West Indies joined The International cricket in the year 1926, when the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) joined the ICC, then known as the Imperical Cricket Council. West Indies as a team reached its zenith during the early 1970’s and stayed as a dominant force in World Cricket till the early 1990’s. Throughout the 90’s West Indies slumped in form, probably due to a fall in popularity of cricket in the islands and due to the lack of good players. The slump initiated major revival efforts which bore fruit when West Indies won the 2012 ICC World twenty20. In 1960’s the West Indies were a team which was going up, while Australia were a team that was in decline. It so happened that they met, which resulted in a series which has been stated to be one of the best in the history of Cricket. The captain at that time was Frank Worell. Though the series was lost, but the impression created by the West Indies proved a point. They soon became the unofficial world champions. However luck was not on their side, as after Worell the team led by Garfield Sobers slumped back into demise. Throughout the late 1960’s and until the change of captaincy, the West Indies were a team which was talented but victory less. In 1974 West Indian captaincy was transferred to a man who would later be regarded as one of the bestcaptains in the worldd had ever seen. Clive Lloyd took over the captaincy with his first job of a victory against India. West Indies won the first two Tests comfortably. Gordon Greenidge started his career with 107 and 93 in the first Test. Vivian Richards failed on his debut, but scored 192* in his second. India fought back to win the next two, but Lloyd hit 242* in the final Test to win the series. Clive Lloyd and West Indies’s moment of glory came in the year 1975 when they went on to win the first ICC cricket World Cup. It was a mega event and with the victory of West Indies registered, they became the official best team of the world. The World Cup win was also in part due to the soaring aspirations and popularity Cricket enjoyed in those days in the West Indian islands. In 1979 West Indies under the able hands of Clive Lloyd once again won the World Cup. The win marked an almost near domination of World Cricket by the West Indies for a decade. However, in the 1983 World Cup, an amazing upset happened. India beating all odds, went up against the Windies in the finals and won. The test domination however had continued un-opposed for the West Indies. At the end of the 1984-85 series against Australia, Clive Lloyd retired. His immediate successor was Viv Richards who continued the successes. With proper and good replacements for the old guard, the West Indian side remained focussed and determined to succeed. Soon however batting became the problem as it began to show signs of weakness. West Indies failed to qualify for the semifinal of the 1987 World Cup. By the end of the 1980s, while still the best team in the world, they had lost the aura of invincibility that they had till the middle of the decade. In 1992, the West Indies once again failed to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals. Australia finally defeated the West Indies 2–1 in 1994–95 to become the unofficial world champions of Test cricket. The 1996 World Cup ended with a defeat in the semi-final, which forced the then Captain Richie Richardson to end his career. The captaincy passed over to Courtney Walsh and then in 1998 to Brian Lara. The West Indies made their first ever official tour to South Africa in 1998–99. It was a disaster, starting with player revolts and ending with a 5–0 defeat. It soon became evident that the West Indies team was no longer the dominant victorious force it used to be. With successive defeats under its belt against strong oppositions, Cricket hit an all-time low with controversies and player rebellions. Recently however with a new approach, an attempt has been made in the right direction. With less disputes and equal opportunities for all, West Indies came ahead and won the ICC World twenty20.