Few West Indian nationals, especially followers of the region's cricket team, would have thought it possible that anything good could have come from the early exit of Pakistan from the Cricket World Cup and the murder in his hotel room here of their team coach, Bob Woolmer.

The departure of Pakistan - tumbled out by part-time players from unfancied Ireland - as well as the quick elimination of India, robbed the World Cup of the Asian powerhouses and thus, the sport's major fan base and its big source of marketing money. As would be expected in the circumstance, there has been a fall-out of Indian and Pakistani visitors who were expected to come to the Caribbean for the tournament from their current homes in North America.

Moreover, the Woolmer murder mystery has robbed play on the field of much of its sheen and an opportunity for many of those who felt that the West Indies hosting of the World Cup would be an opportunity, however tenuous, to claim that they were right all along. The fact that the ICC and the local organisers priced the games beyond the pockets of the average West Indian and implemented rules that dampened the atmosphere within which cricket is played in the region has not helped.

But worse has been the weak, supine performance of the West Indies team so far in the Super Eight segment of the tournament. That the West Indies team loses hurts regional fans, but what is particularly painful is the consistently meek and seemingly unabashed surrender by Brian Lara's men. Indeed, West Indians are shamed by their shamelessness.

Which brings us to what possible good has come from the debacle of the West Indian performance, the humiliation of Pakistan by Ireland and the smear of the Woolmer affair. Hopefully, it will cause outrage among West Indian cricket fans, force the West Indies Cricket Board to grow backbone and cause us all to demand an accounting from the pampered plutocrats of West Indian cricket - the Test and ODI players.

These men, who have let us down so badly, are well-paid professionals who are not infrequently in quarrels with their employers over pay. They are usually, through Dinanath Ramnarine, the CEO of the players association, demanding more money. It matters little to them, it appears, how carelessly they perform, how pitiful their exploits or how much they shame the Caribbean.

The lesson to learn from the Pakistanis, in the first instance, is for the WICB to as quickly as possible suspend all contracts with players and for the future create appropriate mechanisms to measure performance, both for individuals and the team.

At the same time, West Indian cricket fans must let the team know, in decent, orderly and respectful fashion, how they feel about their weak-kneed, ministrel-like performances.

Hopefully, Brian Lara and his men haven't totally lost their capacity for shame. If they have not, they should apologise to the West Indian people for the hurt they continue to cause.