Tony Becca
THE DIGICEL Test series between the West Indies and South Africa has one more match to go. As a contest, however, it is over, all over.
On Sunday, one entire day before it was supposed to finish, South Africa nailed the West Indies by an innings and 86 runs to take a winning 2-0 lead.
To lose is one thing, to lose as the West Indies did is something else however, and West Indians are embarrassed very embarrassed.
On the same pitch on which South Africa, batting second, demonstrated their skill and preened themselves while scoring 548 for nine declared after cruising along at 410 for three at one stage, on the same pitch on which fast bowlers Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini demonstrated their skill and preened themselves with Nel, six for 32 in the second innings and 10 for 88 in the match, enjoying himself with career-best performances, the West Indies batsmen, with the exception of Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the first innings, and the West Indies bowlers, with no exception in the one innings they bowled, were embarrassing.
It had nothing to do with the fact that the West Indies, on their way to 296 in the first innings, were at one stage reeling at 12 for three and were at another stage going reasonably well at 286 for five before losing five wickets for 10 runs. It had nothing to do with the fact that at one stage, the West Indies, on their way to 71 for six in the second innings, were 17 for three, and it had nothing to do with the fact that the West Indies bowlers, all of them put together, did not get as many wickets as Nel, or taking away Chris Gayle's three and the run-out, that they did not get as many as Nel got in one innings.
The embarrassment was the level of skills displayed with the bat and with the ball and especially so with the bat.
PATHETIC
It was pathetic no question about it. It underlined, once again and for the umpteenth time, the poor standard of West Indies cricket the technical deficiency of West Indian batsmen at all levels.
George Headley, the great West Indies batsman of yesteryear, one of the greatest batsmen of all times, used to say he had no problem with batsmen getting out to a poor stroke or getting out carelessly.
Headley's problem was batsmen getting out the same way a second time, even worse, time and time again, and that is what is happening to the West Indies batsmen so much so that watching the West Indies at bat these days is like watching replays of a movie.
Apart from everything else, Gayle, whose scores in two matches read 6, 1, 0 and 5, cannot, for example, decide whether to go back or to go forward, instead of presenting the face of the bat to the ball, he always seem to be carrying his bat across his pads, and the end result is a catch to the wicketkeeper or to one of the slips.
And he is not the only one who goes the same way almost every time.
Dwayne Bravo, going back and attempting to drive short and wide deliveries, has been dismissed the same way in his last three innings caught by the wicketkeeper and first slip; apart from his careless stroke, Ryan Hinds, who going back and across tentatively with the bat hanging by his side, edged a catch, as he has done so many times and including in the Test match at Kensington Oval last year during Matthew Hoggard's hat-trick, in the first innings and was caught by the wicketkeeper; and although it is not as bad with him, Wavell Hinds, as he did in both innings of this Test match when he failed to move right across to cove the ball and edged catches into the slips, also gets out too often playing the same stroke.
Although the West Indies bowlers looked like they were not bowling on the same pitch on which the South African bowlers got the ball to seam, to kick, and sometimes to keep a bit low as they cornered the West Indies batsmen and none more so than Ramnaresh Sarwan who appeared to have seen a ghost when he turned his back and ducked to a delivery from Ntini that never rose above his waist, the West Indies batsmen were the real disappointment of Kensington Oval.
NO SURPRISE
That, however, was not and should not be a surprise. It has happened before in recent times, the writing has been on the wall, and it will continue to happen until the powers that be appreciate that there can be no strong West Indies team without West Indies cricket being strong and that you cannot build a strong West Indies team by creaming off a few players and training them with a foreign coach and his entourage regardless of how good that foreign and his colleagues may be.
The West Indies team will always be as strong, or as weak, as West Indies cricket. The strength of West Indies cricket depends on what happens in the schools and in the clubs, cricket in the schools and in the clubs is weak, and hopefully the embarrassment at Kensington Oval will force the board, through its territorial affiliates, to pay some attention to cricket in these places.
