by JUSTIN MARVILLE

DISHEARTENED. Dismayed. Disenchanted.

Pick whatever word you may, but the general sentiment is all the same – West Indies fans are utterly fed up with their team's performance.

Having valiantly competed in the recent Digicel Test Series against world champions Australia, the regional side appeared to regain the faith of a once despondent fan base, reviving hopes in the Caribbean faithful that they were building towards their pre-eminent days of the 1970s and 1980s.

But those hopes were dashed, along with a chance of winning the Digicel One-Day International (ODI) Series, after Sunday's resounding seven- wicket defeat at the Grenada National Stadium gave the Aussies their third successive victory in the series on the trot and thus handing the visitors their second trophy on their Caribbean tour.

Now looking for hope, begging for answers and praying for some brand of intervention, that same West Indies faithful has now appeared to reach the brink of tolerance after tirelessly waiting for signs of this highly anticipated return to prominence.

But for one former West Indies cricketer, that return won't be coming with this particular team.

Believing this current squad has been a source of too much shame for the Caribbean region, inaugural chairman of Cricket World Cup 2007, Rawle Brancker, a member of the regional touring party to England in 1966, contends the time has come for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to dismantle the entire side.

"They have destroyed almost all of what previous West Indies cricketers have achieved and what hurts most is that their incompetence will be seen by many outside the region as representative of all of us in the Caribbean," said Brancker soon after their defeat last Sunday.

"Apart from Chanderpaul and to a lesser extent Bravo, the whole bunch need to be gotten rid of."

But his passionate convictions have not been shared by all, least of all by West Indies coach John Dyson, who sees constant improvement in the regional unit and deems it is just a matter of time before they are ready to beat the best in the world.

Speaking to the Press after Sunday's emphatic defeat, the Australian born Dyson claimed that his players lacked particular skills to defeat Australia, but it didn't necessarily mean that they weren't "skilled".

"The guys are very good cricketers," insisted Dyson.

"They are skilled cricketers, but there are some extra skills to compete with the No. 1 in the world that you need."

However, Brancker absolutely disagrees with that assessment of the world No. 8, insinuating that it is folly for fans to buy into the belief of the continued development of their team.

"We as supporters of West Indies cricket are stupidly in denial," stated Brancker, "our team is simply no good."

"Our team continues to perform like a prideless, incompetent bunch who have clearly demonstrated that they are incapable of out-thinking the opposition".

Another former West Indies batsman, Philo Wallace, does not buy into Dyson's views, while not as drastic as Brancker, he contends that things can't be as good as the regional coach maintains.

"We are playing well, but we are being beaten, we are improving but yet we are still losing," said Wallace in response to Dyson's comments, "something has to be wrong, you can't be improving and playing well and still being beaten."

Like Brancker, Wallace deems that the way forward for the WICB is working with the younger talent across the territories as West Indies cricket cannot be rebuilt from the senior level downwards.

Wallace said that establishing a Cricket Centre of Excellence was paramount if the regional sport was to get out of the doldrums.

Brancker was adamant that a team should not be paid the same for losing as it received for winning.

He said it was imperative that the West Indies Cricket Board looked at establishing certain employment conditions, which included a payment package based on performance.

"They are too well paid," Brancker said.