Former West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite said the team had reached their lowest point after failing to qualify for the 50-overs World Cup for the first time, but signs of their decline have been evident for a while now.
The two-time champions suffered a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Scotland in their Super Six clash at the qualification tournament in Zimbabwe on Saturday to miss out on the showpiece event, which will be held in India from October 5.
West Indies have no points from their three games in the Super Six stage and cannot overhaul Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, who have six points each from their three fixtures.
"It has been a long time coming," Brathwaite, a key member of the team's Twenty20 World Cup success in 2016, said in quotes published on the International Cricket Council's website.
"Obviously, another format, T20, missed out (on the Super 12 stage) as well last year. So in white-ball cricket, there have been troubles in the past.
"I think this is the lowest you can go."
Pace great Ian Bishop said the team's problems predated the current group of players.
"We haven't played consistently good one-day international cricket against the top nations for perhaps a decade," Bishop told cricket website ESPN Cricinfo.
"I know there has been some introspection that has been taking place in the Caribbean. But what this does is, it says that we are at a few seconds to 12, and we need all hands on board to get the representation back to where it needs to be."