By Tony Becca - On The Boundary 
THE WEST Indies are two-down in the seven-match Cable & Wireless one-day cricket series against Australia, and although the 50-over version of the game is such that weaker teams sometimes defeat stronger teams and the West Indies could win a match or two, the odds are against them coming back and winning the series.
Although the West Indies won the fourth and final Test against Australia in St. John's with a world record performance, this Australia team is stronger than this West Indies team.
EXERCISE SOME PATIENCE
As much as they would love their team to win, the fans should accept that, and as captain Brian Lara has pleaded with them to do on a number of occasions, they should exercise some patience.
Instead of lambasting the players for their short-comings, instead of comparing them to the Australians, the fans should step back a bit and look at the two teams, in both the Test and one-day series. If they do, they will, or should accept that but for a few like Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mervyn Dillon and Vasbert Drakes, it is a contest between boys and men.
While the West Indies is full of young players, amateurs like Devon Smith, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Lawson, David Bernard Jnr., Carlton Baugh Jnr., and Omari Banks who have little first-class experience behind them, Australia are represented by seasoned pros. They are players who have been to the war and back, batsmen and bowlers who know how to survive, how to protect themselves when things are not going well.
As talented as some of them are, and as some of them may be, the youngsters in the West Indies team have not yet learned that. Some of them did perform at times, however, and instead of labelling them as no good, instead of criticising them while comparing them to the likes of Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Viv Richards and company, the fans should take comfort in that, rally around them, and encourage them.
BIG GUNS OF YESTERDAY
What is also important is that the fans accept that the big guns of yesterday, certainly the batsmen, had to perform, really perform, to get into the team and were, therefore, ready, competitively, to represent the West Indies. Because of the general weakness of West Indies cricket, the majority of these youngsters, particularly the batsmen, got into the team too early in terms of their development and were not ready, are not ready, for international cricket.
Some are not ready technically, some are not ready based on their attitude, and most importantly, some are not ready mentally.
There are always exceptions, however, there are two exceptions, and they are fast bowler Lawson and offspinner Banks.
Despite their inexperience, Lawson and Banks have shown that they possess not only talent and skill, but also that they are mature, that they are players of character, and that they have the capacity to perform.
Lawson demonstrated that he was someone special in India, now Banks has done so against Australia, and hopefully they will join the long list of great West Indies cricketers.
This West Indies team is no match for Australia. If the youngsters fighting the fight realise that talent is not all, however, if Lawson and Banks stay the course, and if the others are as dedicated as Baugh and Bernard, not to mention Ramnaresh Sarwan, when they are more experienced, not even an Australian team like this one will be able to touch the West Indies in a few years time.
