Sparks at tunnel's end
There really isn't a lot more than can be said about the West Indies' tour of Sri Lanka that hasn't been said already
Tony Cozier
23-Dec-2001
There really isn't a lot more than can be said about the
West Indies' tour of Sri Lanka that hasn't been said
already.
It will, of course, be recited all over again, with a new
twist to the story here and there, when the captain, coach
and manager hold their debriefing with the top brass of the
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in what has become a
somewhat macabre new year's ritual.
Once the turkey, the ham, the jug, the pepperpot, the
pastelles, the punche de crème and all the other culinary
delights of Caribbean Christmas have been thoroughly
digested and are outwardly manifesting themselves in a
month's time, Wes Hall and his colleagues will sit down to
digest what went wrong on yet another overseas mission.
They will hear many of the same phrases used by the
constantly changing personnel during similar ceremonies at
the same time of year after identical defeats in Pakistan,
South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Learning curve, mental toughness, commitment, inexperience,
discipline and preparation are particular favourites.
This time they may need the help of some specialist from the
QEH to interpret some of the additions to the glossary such
as sick sinus syndrome and embryonic hernia.
They will be heartened only in a couple of respects, even
though the most exciting has been temporarily, but cruelly,
compromised by the injury to Brian Lara.
Lara's rebirth was a major boost, not only for West Indies
cricket but for the game as a whole.
As is evident in Michael Jordan's return to basketball and
Mike Tyson's continuing presence in boxing, every sport
needs its special stars, whatever their shortcomings might
be, and West Indies cricket needs them more than ever now.
His was an extraordinary performance. He left the Caribbean
under a cloud, still troubled by a dodgy hamstring, his
motivation doubted even by his most strident supporters, his
Test average languishing among the crowd at 47.
It was only realistic to deduce, as Sir Everton Weekes did,
that we had seen the best of the sublime left-hander.
By his own acknowledgement, such factors rekindled Lara's
fire. He set himself two improbable goals: to lift his
average to above 50 once more and to pass 7000 Test runs.
He needed to score over 600 in the three Tests to achieve
the former, a height only ever reached by one batsman,
Graham Gooch, and did it with runs to spare.
The figure for 7000 was a little less taxing, a mere 467.
He passed it with an innings in hand.
His 688 runs were 370 more than the next West Indian,
Ramnaresh Sarwan's 318, and 421 more than the third, Carl
Hooper.
These are mind-boggling statistics but they do not, cannot,
reveal the class and command with which they were compiled.
Nor can they tell the story of how he completely mastered
Muttiah Muralitharan, the off-spinning wizard.
While Murali tied everyone else up in tightly-bound knots,
he was reduced to rare ordinariness by Lara's mental and
physical strength, quick eye, twinkling footwork and, above
all, refound desire.
That he should have been on the side of a team soundly
beaten in each Test was a travesty.
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain who was one of the
television commentators, kept marvelling to himself
throughout, I've never seen anything like this, never.
West Indians were denied the chance of seeing it at all by
the absence of television coverage. It was unfortunate, for
it was something to have lifted their spirits and something
to tell their grandchildren about.
Even if to a lesser extent, so too would Sarwan's batting.
In the pivotal position of No.3 for the first time, he
earned an average of 53 through the discipline needed to
augment his rich talent.
In everything he does, Sarwan has the makings of the kind of
exemplar West Indies cricket craves at present. He is a
classical touch player and a brilliant outfielder and come
to think of it a leg-spinner who should be encouraged more.
Beyond that, and unlike so many young, West Indian
cricketers, he has the necessary attributes of selfconfidence and personality. He never quite got the hang of
Murali, but few ever do and he refused to be daunted by him.
Had Hooper, a proven master of spin, followed his example,
the regular collapses once Sarwan was out might not have
been quite as sudden.
The mystery was beyond the comprehension of Marlon Samuels,
Ridley Jacobs and the clueless bowlers, so Hooper's
stability at No.5 was crucial.
But, with Lara each time at the opposite end, he could raise
only two half-centuries in six Test innings and an average
of 27.83 that was a worrying reversion to his pre-captaincy
days.
Hooper's tactical options were limited by the inexperienced
and unpenetrative bowling at his disposal on good pitches
against quality batting. But, generally, his tactics were
limited, full stop.
It was clear he didn't believe in his bowlers to make
anything of advantageous positions as were first innings
totals of 448 in the first Test and 390 in the third and Sri
Lanka's stuttering 53 for four and 163 for five on Day 1 of
the second.
Like Jimmy Adams before him, Hooper has proved a caring and
conscientious leader but there is an absence of intuition in
his strategies, the appreciation of when to seize the moment
when it comes along, rather than waiting for it to happen.
They are traits that also eluded Adams and are in short
supply at all levels of West Indies cricket at present. It
is born out of a climate of defeatism but only serves to
fortify it.
There were other areas clearly beyond Hooper's control, such
as the inability of the openers, Chris Gayle and Daren
Ganga, to deal with the swinging ball.
It was a deficiency not especially evident on their
successful initial association in Zimbabwe and Kenya but it
was exploited by the control and accuracy of Chaminda Vaas.
Vaas is 27. Pedro Collins, who also deals in left-arm fast
bowling, is 25 and, through injury, is only now rebooting a
Test career that began in 1999.
With no match-practice prior to his inclusion in the second
Test, he perceptively improved with each match, becoming
more physically and mentally robust.
He increasingly swung the ball back into the right-handers,
developed reverse swing and used change of pace. All carried
the cautious stamp of a bowler still finding his way at this
level but there is something to work with.
He, Merv Dillon and whoever among the rest show the ability
and keenness needed for success could become a useful, if
not devastating, combination.
Certainly in his very brief appearance, Jermaine Lawson, at
20, showed enough pace and aggression to prompt optimism.
When they are finished with their annual conference of woe,
the hierarchy might conclude that, however dreadful things
look now and they could hardly be more so the future should
not be all doom and gloom.
As an exercise to cheer me up for the season and you too,
perhaps I've jotted down these 24 names of players under the
age of 25 from whom, with proper, full-time attention and
experience (I'm thinking of admittedly expensive contracts
here), could make something of the near future.
They are, I should stress, in no particular order of
preference and there are a couple of others who would just
as easily be included.
They are: Sarwan, Ganga, Gayle, Samuels, Lawson,
Garrick, Ryan Hinds, Corey Collymore, Ricardo Powell, Devon
Smith, Tonito Willett, Kerry Jeremy, Sulieman Benn, Narsingh
Deonarine, Kenroy Peters, Keith Hibbert, Runako Morton,
Andrew Richardson, Andy Jackson, Dave Mohammed, Ryan Austin,
Shane Shillingford, Keith Hibbert and Wayne Phillip
Over to you, Wes.