da bet esporte： There really isn’t a lot more than can be said about theWest Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka that hasn’t been saidalready
Tony Cozier23-Dec-2001There really isn’t a lot more than can be said about theWest Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka that hasn’t been saidalready.It will, of course, be recited all over again, with a newtwist to the story here and there, when the captain, coachand manager hold their debriefing with the top brass of theWest Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in what has become asomewhat macabre new year’s ritual.Once the turkey, the ham, the jug, the pepperpot, thepastelles, the punche de crème and all the other culinarydelights of Caribbean Christmas have been thoroughlydigested and are outwardly manifesting themselves in amonth’s time, Wes Hall and his colleagues will sit down todigest what went wrong on yet another overseas mission.They will hear many of the same phrases used by theconstantly changing personnel during similar ceremonies atthe 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 theQEH to interpret some of the additions to the glossary suchas sick sinus syndrome and embryonic hernia.They will be heartened only in a couple of respects, eventhough 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 Indiescricket but for the game as a whole.As is evident in Michael Jordan’s return to basketball andMike Tyson’s continuing presence in boxing, every sportneeds its special stars, whatever their shortcomings mightbe, and West Indies cricket needs them more than ever now.His was an extraordinary performance. He left the Caribbeanunder a cloud, still troubled by a dodgy hamstring, hismotivation doubted even by his most strident supporters, hisTest 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’sfire. He set himself two improbable goals: to lift hisaverage to above 50 once more and to pass 7000 Test runs.He needed to score over 600 in the three Tests to achievethe 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, CarlHooper.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 masteredMuttiah 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 andphysical strength, quick eye, twinkling footwork and, aboveall, refound desire.That he should have been on the side of a team soundlybeaten in each Test was a travesty.Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain who was one of thetelevision commentators, kept marvelling to himselfthroughout, I’ve never seen anything like this, never.West Indians were denied the chance of seeing it at all bythe absence of television coverage. It was unfortunate, forit was something to have lifted their spirits and somethingto 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, heearned an average of 53 through the discipline needed toaugment his rich talent.In everything he does, Sarwan has the makings of the kind ofexemplar West Indies cricket craves at present. He is aclassical touch player and a brilliant outfielder and cometo think of it a leg-spinner who should be encouraged more.Beyond that, and unlike so many young, West Indiancricketers, he has the necessary attributes of selfconfidence and personality. He never quite got the hang ofMurali, 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 havebeen quite as sudden.The mystery was beyond the comprehension of Marlon Samuels,Ridley Jacobs and the clueless bowlers, so Hooper’sstability at No.5 was crucial.But, with Lara each time at the opposite end, he could raiseonly two half-centuries in six Test innings and an averageof 27.83 that was a worrying reversion to his pre-captaincydays.Hooper’s tactical options were limited by the inexperiencedand unpenetrative bowling at his disposal on good pitchesagainst quality batting. But, generally, his tactics werelimited, full stop.It was clear he didn’t believe in his bowlers to makeanything of advantageous positions as were first inningstotals of 448 in the first Test and 390 in the third and SriLanka’s stuttering 53 for four and 163 for five on Day 1 ofthe second.Like Jimmy Adams before him, Hooper has proved a caring andconscientious leader but there is an absence of intuition inhis strategies, the appreciation of when to seize the momentwhen it comes along, rather than waiting for it to happen.They are traits that also eluded Adams and are in shortsupply at all levels of West Indies cricket at present. Itis born out of a climate of defeatism but only serves tofortify it.There were other areas clearly beyond Hooper’s control, suchas the inability of the openers, Chris Gayle and DarenGanga, to deal with the swinging ball.It was a deficiency not especially evident on theirsuccessful initial association in Zimbabwe and Kenya but itwas exploited by the control and accuracy of Chaminda Vaas.Vaas is 27. Pedro Collins, who also deals in left-arm fastbowling, is 25 and, through injury, is only now rebooting aTest career that began in 1999.With no match-practice prior to his inclusion in the secondTest, he perceptively improved with each match, becomingmore physically and mentally robust.He increasingly swung the ball back into the right-handers,developed reverse swing and used change of pace. All carriedthe cautious stamp of a bowler still finding his way at thislevel but there is something to work with.He, Merv Dillon and whoever among the rest show the abilityand keenness needed for success could become a useful, ifnot devastating, combination.Certainly in his very brief appearance, Jermaine Lawson, at20, 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 thingslook now and they could hardly be more so the future shouldnot 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 theage of 25 from whom, with proper, full-time attention andexperience (I’m thinking of admittedly expensive contractshere), could make something of the near future.They are, I should stress, in no particular order ofpreference and there are a couple of others who would justas easily be included.They are: Sarwan, Ganga, Gayle, Samuels, Lawson,Garrick, Ryan Hinds, Corey Collymore, Ricardo Powell, DevonSmith, Tonito Willett, Kerry Jeremy, Sulieman Benn, NarsinghDeonarine, Kenroy Peters, Keith Hibbert, Runako Morton,Andrew Richardson, Andy Jackson, Dave Mohammed, Ryan Austin,Shane Shillingford, Keith Hibbert and Wayne PhillipOver to you, Wes.