Becca
Tony Becca, Senior Sport Editor
JOHANNESBURG:
WHEN THE West Indies flew out of Cape Town on Monday morning, it was all smiles. After defeating the World Cup second favourites and the Group B favourites South Africa before a full house in the opening match of the tournament, they were happy - and so too their small army of supporters.
When they flew out of Port Elizabeth yesterday morning (Friday), however, there was hardly a smile. After losing to New Zealand, they were unhappy - and so too were their supporters. `
As far as the comments were concerned, there was also a difference - a big difference.
On Monday morning, all the players were heroes, praises were showered especially on Brian Lara who was in superb form while stroking a century, on Shivnarine Chanderpaul and captain Carl Hooper for the matured batting while helping Lara to lift the West Indies after losing two early wickets, on Ricardo Powell and Ramnaresh Sarwan who smashed the ball around at the end of their innings, and on Vasbert Drakes who snatched victory with two wickets in the final over - including that of Lance Klusener who had threatened to win the match for South Africa.
Yesterday morning, there were no heroes around, no praise for anyone, and although the players still believed that they can win the Cup, the fans were having second thoughts with most of them saying that while the West Indies will get into the Super Six second round, they will go no further.
The interesting thing, however, was that the praise was replaced by condemnation, and in many ways, it was deserving.
Starting with the selection of the team, it was difficult to understand why Marlon Samuels and Jermaine Lawson were not selected.
Although Ricardo Powell did well at the end of the innings in Cape Town, he was obviously in for Samuels who, through no fault of his, arrived late, and he should have made way for the return of Samuels - for the batsman considered by many as exceptionally gifted, one who many expect to be among the next set of great West Indies batsmen, and on top of that, one who is coming off a few brilliant performances in India.
No one, not even this set of selectors, could have asked for anything better than Samuels' performance in the one Test he played and during the one-day internationals.
If that was not, or is not good enough to get a batsman into a team that struggles against quality bowling, then something is wrong.
While Lawson's omission from the first match was understandable - to a degree, it was also difficult to understand his non-selection after Pedro Collins, for whatever reason, was sidelined.
In the Test matches he played in India on his first outing, he was the best of the bowlers, he was the one who, because of his pace and his accuracy, made the Indian batsmen uncomfortable, and without thinking about his six wickets for three runs against Bangladesh later on, after he was sent home and then recalled, he was impressive during the one-day internationals.
Surely, even if he was considered too inexperienced to be selected as one the first three pacers for the first match, once there was a vacancy, he, a young gun who has shown that he has the skill plus the capacity to perform, should have been selected over Nixon McLean who, despite his years around and his many appearances in the team, has never delivered on the big day.
Although they were so happy after the excitement in Cape Town that they never spoke about it - probably never even though about it, the fans also questioned the selection of seven batsmen and only three bowlers - and again they have good reason to do so.
Although they got away with it in Cape Town, and although Wavell Hinds bowled well in Port Elizabeth, the seventh batsman is a luxury that this team cannot afford. This team needs another bowler, and to have one like Lawson, who should do well on fast, bouncy pitches in South Africa, sitting in the pavilion while playing only three, suggests that those who select the team have no confidence in the batsmen.
That must be why, despite the presence of Ridley Jacobs, they prefer to pack the batting with seven specialists batsmen and weaken a bowling attack that is already weak.
The selectors should think on this: with only three specialist bowlers, the West Indies, despite the presence of seven specialist batsmen, almost lost the match in Cape Town; and although they had seven specialist batsmen, they could not score 242 runs and easily lost the match in Port Elizabeth.
It is said that too many cooks spoil the broth, and after limiting New Zealand to under five runs an over on a good pitch, the West Indies probably lost in Port Elizabeth because, with seven batsmen, plus Jacobs, they believed it would have been easy - even if a few got out cheaply.
The way most of them batted, especially the early ones, certainly suggested that they did believe so - that they had enough behind to win the match regardless.
With only two matches gone and the count one-one, the West Indies should move into the Super Six, and with a little luck, they can still win the Cup.
Fortune, however, favours the brave, and if they are to win the Cup, the West Indies will have to play one less batsman and one more bowler. Most days, their runs will come from the top order, and that means that in a 50-over match, the seventh batsman will be a waste. If it remains as it is, however, most days the attack will be easy pickings.
