Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sports
I'VE TRIED, lawd knows I've tried. I've tried to manipulate the figures like a dodgy accountant. I've tried to look at the positives and disregard the negatives like a Zen master. I've even resorted to playing dice cricket in search of a winning vibe. But no matter how I try to spin things, it's all coming up snake eyes for the West Indies on their looming tour of South Africa.
I really would love to see Chris Gayle and the guys do well in South Africa but, apart from a win or two in the one-dayers or Twenty/20s, it just ain't gonna happen.
Gayle has got his young captaincy career off to a stellar start. He successfully steered a down-in-the-mouth West Indies team to a one-day series victory over England in the Old Dart and then followed that up by leading Jamaica to the regional KFC Cup one-day title.
It seems he has the respect of his teammates and his laid-back attitude strikes the right chord, but SA is going to be a whole new ball game and, particularly in the three Tests, his first real baptism of fire.
This Windies squad is light on experience and short on any sort of real winning form, while a pretty strong case could be made that South Africa are the best team going around in the Test arena at the moment.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the one and only consistently proven class player in the entire touring squad. Gayle and, to lesser extents, fellow batsmen Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo, have shown flashes of brilliance but they are too few and far between to be causing the South African brains trust any sleepless nights.
Nothing to fret about
I'm also pretty sure they are not fretting about the likes of Test underachiever Daren Ganga, Devon Smith, Runako Morton and debutant Brenton Parchment, not with a bowling attack that includes new pace sensation Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, a rejuventated Andre Nel and Jacques Kallis.
Heck, if they can afford to drop a great like Shaun Pollock from the side, they must be good. One criticism of the SA attack is that it lacks variety but that doesn't matter if the quicks are getting wickets - just ask the Windies of the '80s how desperately they needed a spin option!
The Windies do have a little variety in their attack with three right-arm quicks, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor, a leftie, Pedro Collins, two medium pace all-rounders, Bravo and Darren Sammy, and, yes, even a spinner, the veteran Rawl Lewis - if so desired, but there's no out-and-out proven match winner among them.
Kallis, jolted after being dropped from the team for the abridged versions of the game, is currently in the best form of his career and making runs like they are going out of fashion.
Hitting centuriesp>He made three centuries and a half ton in four innings in the two-Test sweep of Pakistan at an average of 210.5 and followed that up at home against New Zealand with two more centuries in the two Tests against the Black Caps at a paltry average of 115.
He found useful batting allies in the emerging Hashim Amla, who made two tons against the admittedly lame Kiwi attack, Herschelle Gibbs, A.B. deVilliers and useful 'keeper/batsman Mark Boucher.
One concern for the hosts will be the horrid drop in form of skipper Graeme Smith who averaged only four against New Zealand in three dismal innings.
Still, all that probably means is that he's ready to tee-off against the Windies.
Oh well, on the bright side, at least we will have a representative team to cheer for in South Africa - and it won't cost a billion dollars. Later …
tym.glaser@gleanerjm.com
