Tony BeccaWHEN the three-match final of the triangular limited-overs series in Australia opens on February 7 in Sydney, it may well be Australia versus the West Indies.
Australia, on a perfect four from four with four to go, appears certain to qualify, but with the West Indies on two from five with three to go and Zimbabwe on two from three with five to go, it is anybody's guess which of the two will make it.
With the West Indies to play Zimbabwe twice and Australia only one more time, with Zimbabwe also to play Australia three more times, and with Australia expected to defeat both teams and thus leave their fate in their own hands when they face each other, a good guess would be that the Windies will make it.
There is hardly anyone, however, not even the most patriotic West Indian, probably not even the members of the management team, who would be willing to place a bet on the West Indies - not after Monday night's dismal performance against Zimbabwe.
Going into the match after losing to Australia by 74 runs, pipping Zimbabwe by one wicket, losing to Australia by nine wickets and then by 28 runs in a rain-affected match, the West Indies, despite their poor performance up to then, despite their narrow escape in the first encounter, were expected to win the match.
The West Indies, even remembering also that Zimbabwe outplayed them in the triangular series in England last summer, were expected to win for two reasons - because the fans believed that as disappointing as they have been, the West Indies were still better than Zimbabwe, and because of Brian Lara's lovely, undefeated century against Australia in the previous match.
At the start, the fans probably expected a close match, and after Zimbabwe were dismissed for 138 they probably figured it would have been easy pickings.
It was, however, another night of agony.
In another embarrassing performance by their batsmen, this time, despite the presence of Heath Streak, against an attack no better than ordinary, the West Indies crashed for 91 runs in 31.5 overs with five batsmen failing to score.
And they were lucky. It could have been worse. At one stage they were 31 for eight and appeared set to fall for their lowest total in the limited-overs game.
"I kept thinking I'd wake up and it would be a dream," said Zimbabwe's captain Streak.
As far as West Indians were concerned, it certainly was not a dream. It was more like a nightmare - a terrible one at that, and once again the question is being asked, what is wrong?
Once again there will be those who will criticise the captain and the team coaches, once again there will be those who will talk about such things as the lack of team spirit, the lack of application, the lack of pride, the lack of effort in the nets, inconsistency, the need for a sports psychiatrist, and they may be right - in some areas definitely so.
When one looks at the way the majority of the batsmen address the ball, however, at the position of their feet, at the many catches which go to the slips and to the wicketkeeper off the face of the bat, the truth, the terribly truth, is that the batsmen, like the bowlers and fielders, are technically weak.
Until that is accepted, until we stop fooling ourselves there is a lot of talent around and until a concerted effort is made at all levels to correct the weaknesses, nothing will change.
Such is the nature of the game that there will be times when batsmen, regardless of poor skills, will get off. Consistency, however, calls for good technical skills and certainly when it comes to playing back or forward, to moving their feet properly, West Indian batsmen need to learn to bat.
