Shame!

West Indies' failure to qualify for the World Cup has set a pale of sadness and frustration on the faces of cricket fans throughout the Caribbean.

"Great sadness, tremendous disappointment, utter confusion," was how former West Indies World Cup-winner Colin Croft responded to West Indies' failure on Saturday to reach this year's ICC 50-over cricket World Cup.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said it was sad that the West Indies cricket team did not make the cut.

"Very sad to see West Indies not qualifying for the Cricket World Cup," Akhtar tweeted.

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag said it was a shame to see West Indies not qualify.

"What a shame. West Indies fail to qualify for the World Cup. It just shows talent alone isn't enough; one needs focus and good man management, free from politics. The only solace is there isn't further low to sink from here," tweeted Sehwag.

However, former Cricket West Indies director Baldath Mahabir and former team manager Omar Khan were not caught off guard by the regional side's loss to Scotland in the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, saying that the team has now reached a "historic low" and there is still further down they can go, the Trinidad Guardian reported.

Mahabir warned that based on the trending results of the regional side, "we will be an embarrassment to ourselves in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean next year. That is almost a guarantee."

West Indies failed to qualify for the Cricket World Cup for the first time after losing to Scotland in the Super Six stage on Saturday.

West Indies had previously played in every one-day international World Cup since the inaugural edition in 1975, which it won before retaining the title in 1979, but won't now make the tournament which starts in India in October.

The Caribbean side needed to beat Scotland to stay in contention but lost by seven runs at Harare Sports Club in their third tournament defeat after losing to Zimbabwe and the Netherlands.

The disastrous performances have raised the alarm in the Caribbean and continue the team's decline in the shorter format of the game after failing to get out of the group stage at last year's T20 World Cup in Australia — a tournament it's won twice.