Usually, at the end of a series, the discussion and analysis
centres on why the West Indies team have lost, given the immense
talent of many of their players. How pleasing it was therefore to
hear the team's captain answering questions on how the team beat
the number three ranked ODI team by the wide margin of 4?1.
In certain circles it was unthinkable, given the 1?4 series loss
to lesser opponents New Zealand and the Indian journalists went
silent and shook their collective heads after each beating.
Since West Indies played India for the first time in a Test
series in 1948, the West Indies have opposed India in 78 tests,
winning 30, drawing 38 and losing 10.
When the four-Test home series starts at the Antigua Recreation
Ground (ARG) on June 2, the Indians will be hunting their first
series win in the Caribbean in 35 years and only second in nine
series in the West Indies.
Up until recently, anything other than a manual scoreboard in
the Caribbean would have been thought of as out of this planet.
Then along comes the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, and all grounds -?
new and old -? are having to move into the 21st century, in order
to meet ICC regulations.
The Jamaicans were introduced to this "novelty" for the first
ODIs against India, and in St Kitts, spectators won't know any
other system but electronic since it was their first international
match.
Brian Lara was testing out his new patriarchal role when he
spoke at the FCB West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) Awards for
2005 last week.
He launched off a little shakily, identifying the grand old men
of West Indies cricket, and came to the conclusion that this
tradition and history was too great to be subjected to the
"stranglehold of sponsorship."
Ramnaresh Sarwan's man-of-the-series performance in the recent
ODIs against India has pushed him up to second place in LG ICC
Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.
Sarwan, who only entered the top 10 earlier this month after a
series of excellent displays against Zimbabwe, is now breathing
down the neck of leader Adam Gilchrist at the top of the batting
list.
