Tony Becca, Contributing EditorTHE WEST Indies take on England in the second Test of their four-match series at Headingley in the usually wet and cold Leeds tomorrow.
After entering the first Test as rank outsiders, after going to Lord's with a bit of fear in their eyes and giving the home team a run for their money, they do so, not exactly bubbling with confidence, but with a twinkle in their eyes and a smile on their faces.
And it has nothing to do with their record at Headingley - a record that shows the West Indies winning six of the 11 matches played there and England four, and one that glitters with such magnificent performances as the unforgettable 102 in 1963 by Gary Sobers batting with an injured hand; Charlie Griffith's six for 36, also in 1963; 437 for nine declared on the first day in 1976, and Malcolm Marshall's seven for 53 bowling with his left hand in plaster in 1984.
It has to do with a feeling of pride after a wonderful performance at Lord's.
After some ordinary bowling - but for Daren Powell, after dropping some relatively easy catches, after England had jumped to 553 for five declared and with everything apparently against them, the West Indies batsmen, including tail-enders Powell and Jerome Taylor, settled down and fought well.
Played well
Their bowlers, and to an extent their fielders, then returned and played well, and finally Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga batted well to reach 89 without loss before rain intervened and denied the fans of what probably would have been a memorable day's play.
Although England missed the pace bowling of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and his testing deliveries, an England were short of one bowler due to the injury to Matthew Hoggard, it was a good performance by the West Indies.
It was a performance that left the score at 0-0 instead of 0-1 as expected and, on top of it, instead of hanging on at the end, the West Indies walked away side by side with England, probably wondering what might have been had the rain stayed away on that last day.
The truth, however, is that despite the Windies' record at Leeds, and even forgetting their loss in two days in 2000 when they were routed for 61 in their second innings, this West Indies team, and particularly so their batsmen, will find it more difficult to survive at Leeds than they did at Lord's.
Leeds is traditionally colder than Lord's, the ball swings more up north than it does down south Hoggard will not be in action and Flintoff may not be, an attack of pacers Steve Harmison - especially if he is bowling well, Liam Plunkett or left-arm expert Ryan Sidebottom, and James Anderson, plus left-arm spinner Monty Panesar can be deadly in those conditions.
And apart from their problems against one like Panesar, the West Indies batsmen, this set of West Indies batsmen, most of them, are susceptible to good swing bowling and especially so in conditions that suit swing bowling.
Another reason why it could be more difficult for the West Indies to save the match much more to win it is that while England's batting will be, or should be, strengthened by the return of captain Michael Vaughan, the West Indies bowling, already without a specialist spin bowler may be found wanting not only in quality but in quantity.
At Lord's, the West Indies went in with three specialist bowlers in pacers Powell, Taylor and Corey Collymore, and they were supported by all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and part-timers Gayle and captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.
It was disappointing to see Gayle and Sarwan bowling together in a Test match and it made life easy for England's batsmen.
At Leeds, the West Indies will need another bowler and that bowler should be a spinner. They do not even have one in the squad, however, and because of that, the other bowler should be Fidel Edwards - a sling bowler, the fastest bowler in the team and one who would add some variety to an attack that presents a sameness from start to finish.
That, however, is unlikely. It is a safe bet that the West Indies will be going into the Test match with the same team that drew the match at Lord's. That means there will be seven batsmen, including Bravo, and only four bowlers, including Bravo. It is almost a safe bet that Bravo, batting at number seven, will score more runs than two or three of the top order batsmen; it is a good bet that he will bowl as well as any of the three specialists and better than Gayle, or Sarwan, or even Runako Morton and, because of that, the West Indies will find themselves one batsman too many and one bowler short.
Although they are not now as long as they were at Lord's, the odds are still against the West Indies winning or drawing this Test match. After drawing the first Test against the odds, however, there are now a few fans who are willing to place a bet on them, and the question is this: Can the West Indies not only beat the odds again and draw the match but can they go one better this time and win it?
As confident as they may be, I would not bet on it. The West Indies batsmen, as much as they may be willing to fight again, should find England's bowler too good for them at Headingley.
