Great Expectations
And so, with the contract issue on the back burner -- possibly even behind us -- once more into the breech, dear friends, once more.
After a forgettable tour of Sri Lanka by an understrength Caribbean side, West Indies fans are hungry for some real cricket, and it doesn't get much more real than a summer tour of Australia. The pundits and the oddsmakers are firmly in favour of the top ranked Aussies, with Ladbrokes giving 1/16 for an Australian series win, but there is an undercurrent of speculation amongst some of the fans.
The reports from Down Under are that our players are bigger, better, and fitter than ever, and while our batting giant Brian Lara seems to be struggling with his form, some of the younger players such as Marlon Samuels, Darren Powell, and Devon Smith displayed a distinct appetite for destruction in the sole warmup match. Could it be that this tour will not be just another Brian Lara show?
Having recently lost the Ashes to England, the Australians salvaged some pride at the expense of the ICC Rest of the World team, but clearly they are eager to show the world that the Ashes were just a blip, and that they are still a juggernaught to be feared. Anything less than than a 3-0 series victory for them will be considered a failure in the eyes of their fans and the ever hungry Australian media, currently circling Ricky Ponting like a flock of johncrows.
On the other hand, the West Indies have nothing to lose but everything to gain. They are expected to lose badly. A single win will signal that something -- be it Shivnarine Chanderpaul's captaincy, Bennett King's coaching, or a recognition that they carry the hopes and pride of an entire region -- is going right. Even a draw or well-fought loss will show the world that the men from the Caribbean are finally on their way back, and that Australia might just be as vulnerable as England made them out to be this summer.
However, some realism should prevail. Declines of this magnitude do not reverse themselves overnight, and no coach or captain can turn around a decade of decay in a few months. It is well known that the causes for the West Indies decline are deep rooted and many, and that the core problems of mis-management and underdevelopment remain. Problems of this nature are rarely fixed from the top, but it seems that is where it will have to happen, if it happens at all.
Questions abound about the ability of the mostly green West Indian bowling attack to dismiss the Australians twice in a match, and we are all too familiar with the sight of a dismal batting collapse from our paper tigers. It will take tremendous discipline and concentration to stand up to the Aussies, especially on their home ground, where the game is not always played with just bat and ball. It remains to be seen how well the coach Bennett King has prepared our players for this third dimension, one with which they will no the most part have little experience.
But in the face of realism there is always room for a little optimism. It's a long shot but maybe, if everything comes together, if there's a little luck and a lot of application, the cracks that England exposed can be pried open just a little more and the underdogs could just offer a few surprises to their fans and critics.
Maybe, just maybe.