BRIAN LARA ...even the arrival of the great lefthander in New Zealand is not expected to lift interest in the touring West Indies side which is on the brink of a five-match one-day sweep from the hosts. - FILE
NEW ZEALANDERS are rapidly losing interest in the sorry West Indies team, respected Caribbean cricket commentator Tony Cozier reported this week in the Trinidad and Tobago Express.
"Unflattering opinions of the lack of fight in their fourth successive defeat in the National Bank ODI Series at Napier on Monday - and the 19th in their last 21 such completed matches - came from Stephen Fleming, the captain, and New Zealand's main newspapers," Cozier wrote as the beleaguered team prepares for its final one-day encounter against the hosts tonight (Ja time) before the three-Test series begins next week.
VACANT SEATS
"Their lack of appeal has been reflected in the rows of vacant seats and empty spaces at the venues. An estimated 3,500 turned out for the second match in Queenstown. The Sri Lankans attracted close to 10,000 there in December. The comparisons have been similar elsewhere," he stated.
LIMP RESPONSE
"It was the West Indies' limp response to his team's formidable 324 for 6 at McClean Park that mystified Fleming. They ended 233 for 8 from the 50 overs to lose by 91 runs. 'We expected them to come out at us all guns blazing and either be all out for 189 or get close to the target', Fleming said afterwards. 'To meander through to 233 was a bit puzzling'."
Writing in New Zealand's Dominion-Post newspaper, Jonathan Millmow said the West Indies "appear to have lost the will to compete". He added, "Chasing a hefty 325, West Indies did themselves and the game a disservice through their lack of conviction with the bat".
Richard Boock in the New Zealand Herald was equally blunt: "Suggestions that Shivnarine Chanderpaul's side is improving, that things were finally moving in the right direction, have been exposed as myths."
Meanwhile, Brian Lara was scheduled to join the team in Auckland yesterday along with Jamaican paceman Daren Powell and left-handed opener Devon Smith.
However, according to Cozier, even Lara's presence has not convinced the hosts that the West Indies can perform better in the longer version of the game. Boock wrote that the poor performance in the fourth one-dayer "provided final confirmation that nothing special should be expected any time soon, and that little is likely to change next week when the first Test begins at Eden Park."
