Tony Becca
WHEN THE West Indies left for Australia there was hardly anyone who gave them a chance of drawing one match much more to win one.
The prediction by almost every one was not only that Australia would win all three matches, but also that they would win them comfortably, and by winning the first Test in Brisbane by 379 runs, the second in Hobart by nine wickets, and the third in Adelaide by seven wickets they did just that.
As good as Australia were, however, and although they still may have gone on to win all three matches, the West Indies may have done much better but for some umpiring decisions that went against them.
GOOD AND DANGEROUS
From the beginning, the West Indies chances of even drawing one of the matches depended on its batting, more so on the fortunes of star batsman Brian Lara, and there were at least three occasions - twice when he was adjudged leg before wicket and once when he was adjudged caught at the wicket - when he was cut down just when he started to look good and dangerous.
On top of that, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were also victims of some blatant mistakes by the umpires - the same elite umpires who, despite some close calls, refused, on many occasions, to lift the finger against Australia's batsmen.
Two perfect examples of decisions going in favour of Australia and against the West Indies were in the second innings of the final Test when Dwayne Smith edged the ball on to his pad and umpire Aleem Dar lifted the finger, and when Matthew Hayden edged Sarwan on to the wicketkeeper's thigh and into Devon Smith's hands at slip and Dar, one of the best umpires in the game, refused to lift the finger.
Mistakes by umpires have been part of the history of cricket and such were the margins of victory that the decisions against the West Indies would hardly have made a difference to the outcome of any of the matches. One never knows, however, and the fact is that, like Australia during the recent Ashes series, the West Indies, probably even more so, suffered badly at the hands of the umpires.
That, however, was not why the West Indies lost all three matches. Australia were simply better than the West Indies.
But for Corey Collymore, the West Indies bowling was too inconsistent, and in spite of the umpiring, but for Lara, the West Indies batsmen - Christopher Gayle, Devon Smith, but for his solid 88 in the first innings of the first Test, Sarwan, but for his last innings, Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels and Wavell Hinds - were easy pickings for Australia's bowlers.
They all reeled off some fine strokes, but those were few and far between. They hardly ever looked good enough, confident enough, or decisive enough to get on top of pacers Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee and legspinner Shane Warne.
SOME DID WELL
There were two West Indians who batted well, however. They were all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and wicketkeeper Ramdin, and along with Collymore, they were, but for Lara and his brilliant 226 in the final Test, the West Indies' top performers Down Under.
Batting with confidence, using their feet well and attacking the bowlers off the front foot and off the back foot, Bravo and Ramdin shared a seventh-wicket partnership of 182 in Hobart with Bravo stroking a brilliant 113 and Ramdin hitting an equally brilliant 71.
Then, with the West Indies struggling on 106 for seven in the second innings in Adelaide, they posted 54 runs for the eighth wicket with Bravo scoring 64 and Ramdin 28.
The West Indies were soundly beaten by Australia - no doubt about that. To their credit, however, there were times when they played well - when they surprised all and sundry and gave West Indian fans some hope.
