The mark of the man
by IAN BISHOP
It is pleasing that the West Indies finished the tour a lot better than they started. Their performances in the Twenty20 games and the victory in the NatWest Series mean they leave England with their heads held high.
I thought Chris Gayle did an excellent job as stand-in captain. The first thing that you look for is whether the players are behind their captain, and the West Indies squad showed through their commitment and energy and enjoyment that they were.
The captaincy also brought out a level of responsibility in Chris that the selectors were looking for. His knock in the final one-day international, when he scored 82 from 126 balls, was against his natural inclination but demonstrated that he can lead the side with the bat as well as tactically.
That said, I also thought he was very good with his tactics out on the field. He set attacking and imaginative fields and always appeared to be proactive and on the ball. Most of all, the side looked as though they enjoyed playing under him.
Chris said later that he still considers himself as nothing more than the back-up captain to Ramnaresh Sarwan, and that he was looking forward to welcoming him back as leader once he recovers from injury.
That is the measure of Chris Gayle. There is a certain sense of style with which he likes to carry himself, he has his own characteristics, but underneath it all he is a very decent and honest man.
He was honest enough to say that although he enjoyed his turn at the leadership, he knows it is right to stand aside and let Sarwan have the chance that was taken from him by injury.
Sarwan and Gayle are good friends, and they have been through a lot together. It is the mark of the man that Chris accepts the captaincy is Sarwan's job and that he will be ready to support his friend when he comes back.
It shows maturity that he is willing to accept the burden of the responsibility of captaincy, to enjoy it and to be a success at it, but then to relinquish it when asked to later.
He has put himself in consideration should the West Indies ever find themselves looking for a captain in the future, certainly in one-day cricket. I think he can consider himself second in command.
Gayle's wasn't the only impressive performance in the one-day series. An away one-day series win anywhere is worthy of note, but especially as it came without Sarwan, who has been an integral part of any success in recent years, and without Brian Lara, who added a lot in terms of experience and leadership.
The players the squad lost through injuries, the new faces brought in, the new captain and the wet, cold, unfamiliar conditions - all these things were against the West Indies, and it means they will take a lot from their series win.
The squad showed that they have an innate ability in the shorter form of the game. Most of the batsman are naturally aggressive in their stroke play, and the types of bowlers they have find that they are effective in both 20 and 50-over cricket.
They still need experience and to work on a few nuances of the game, but I think they have shown that they can acquit themselves well at the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
Individually, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was clearly the man of the tour, but I also want to praise Fidel Edwards, who I thought improved strides throughout this tour. And Daren Powell showed in the one-day series that he can be a huge success when used in short, sharp spells.
In Tests, Powell found himself used as a stock bowler because his technique allows him to bowl a consistent line and length. But he was allowed to attack the crease in the one-day matches and to be the sort of fast bowler that he knows he can be, and I hope he now has the self-belief that he can do the same in Test cricket.
* Ian Bishop is a former West Indies fast bowler who now works as a television broadcaster. This column is republished with permission from http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/.