BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The crowning moment in cricket came on a chilly, gloomy September evening in London, when Ian Bradshaw square-drove a delivery from Alex Wharf to the backward point boundary to clinch victory over England in the Final of the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval.
Needing to reach 218 to hit the jackpot, Bradshaw and long-time Barbados teammate Courtney Browne added 71, unbroken, for the ninth wicket that lifted West Indies out of the rubble of 147 for eight to a victory that had looked highly improbable over an hour earlier.
Outside of this performance and reaching the final of the three-nation limited-overs series in Britain in July against New Zealand by also knocking England out, West Indies endured a horrific time on the field.
The year commenced with South Africa completing a 3-0 win in a four-Test series at home and capturing three of the five limited-overs internationals (one was incomplete because of rain).
On returning home, West Indies lost their first home series to England in almost four decades when Michael Vaughan's side clinched the four-Test series 4-0.
QUADRUPLE CENTURY
Only an epic, unprecedented quadruple century from West Indies captain Brian Lara prevented the visitors from inflicting an ignominious sweep.
The subsequent limited-overs series was much closer however, and ended tied 2-2, after three of the seven matches were washed out, leaving the West Indies Cricket Board out of pocket to the tune of more than US$1 million.
Bangladesh arrived in June and ran the hosts close before West Indies, under the leadership of Ramnaresh Sarwan, deputising for the injured Lara, completed a 3-0 sweep.
The little-rated visitors however, stunned their hosts when they piled up 416 in the first innings of the first Test in St Lucia and gained a 64-run lead. Had rain not affected the last two days, an outright result could have been possible.
With Lara staking his captaincy on victory in the second and final Test in Jamaica, his teammates responded.
After Bangladesh were restricted to 284 in the first innings, Sarwan hit an undefeated 261, Lara 120 and fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul an unbeaten 101 in a West Indies total of 559 for four declared that set up victory by an innings and 99 runs.
A couple of weeks later, West Indies arrived in Britain for a long, arduous tour. They might have been able to avoid the sweep at home, but were not so successful on the road, as the ruthless English steamrolled the visitors in the four-Test series.
FIRST FOREIGN COACH
The triumph of the ICC Champions Trophy could not save Gus Logie and his job of West Indies coach was handed to Australian Bennett King, who became the team's first foreign coach.
His first order of business was a three-week preparatory camp in Barbados, but this and the imminent tour of Australia for a three nation limited-overs series involving Pakistan and the hosts got overshadowed by a row between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association over endorsement agreement.
The WICB had severed its ties with long-time, major sponsor Cable & Wireless for a lucrative deal with telecom rival Digicel, but several players had signed individual endorsement deals with the previous sponsor that put the "bigger, better" sponsorship agreement in jeopardy.
Following arbitration, the WICB and the WIPA came to an understanding that would allow the tour of Australia to proceed, but the cricket authority noted that there were still unresolved issues that would need to be addressed at a later date.
During the year, the venues and match packages for the ICC World Cup West Indies 2007 that will comprise 16 teams were announced.
In two glitzy television events - the first in London and the second in Montego Bay - the world learnt that Barbados would host the Final and matches in the Super Eights (or quarterfinals).
It was also revealed that Jamaica would stage one of the two semifinals and the first round group of matches involving West Indies, and St Lucia would hold the other semifinal and matches in the first round group involving England.
Elsewhere, Trinidad & Tobago had to settle for matches involving India in the first round only and St Kitts & Nevis would host the other first round group of matches involving Australia.
Guyana, Grenada and Antigua & Barbuda would be the other venues for matches in the Super Eights.
BARBADOS CARIB CHAMPIONS
On the regional scene, Barbados again completed the West Indies first-class championship double when they overcame Jamaica in the Final of the Carib Beer Series in March, after they had conceded first innings points.
Later in the year, Trinidad & Tobago claimed their first senior West Indies domestic title for eight years, when they prevailed over Guyana in the low-scoring Limited Overs Final that was affected by rain.
In-between, Barbados and hosts Jamaica dominated the TCL Group West Indies youth championship. The Barbadians beating the Jamaicans in the Final to take the limited-overs crown, and the hosts taking first innings points in the drawn Final to take the three-day title.
Earlier in the year, Barbados had clinched the Under-15 crown.
Antigua and Barbuda retained Leeward Islands senior title with an unbeaten record and Grenada snatched the Windwards senior title.
SVG, led by spinner and tournament MVP Javon Samuel, captured Windwards U-19 crown while Antigua & Barbuda prevailed in the Leewards Under-19s.
Nevis won their fourth consecutive Leewards Under-15 championship win, and Grenada secured the Windwards Under-15 crown.
GEORGE CREATES HISTORY
In West Indies women's cricket, St. Lucian left-hander Nadine George created history on March 17 when, playing in the one-off Test against Pakistan in Karachi, she hit 100 not out to become the first West Indies woman to score a hundred in a cricket Test.
The West Indies women, preparing for the 2005 Women's World Cup, won their One-Day series against the Pakistanis 5-2 after crashing to a 5-0 loss to world number three India in the preceding tour.
SVG enjoyed a good year in women's cricket, landing the West Indies Under-23 competition and the West Indies league championship, while T&T retained the knockout title.