The newspapers are full of cricket and cricket-related stories and the television has put almost every other sport on the back burner, even golfing legend Ernie Els' success is hidden away almost.

The fantastic opening ceremony, full of culture and colour, had players revelling in the event, in sharp contrast to the past when it would have seemed like a chore one had to endure.

In keeping with the glamour of the opening ceremony, the first match between the West Indies and hosts South Africa lived up to all of its anticipation more than expectation since the host country was expected to win.

There is no doubt that this West Indies team is focused on their goal of winning this tournament.

They are working well together and are united in their cause. That showed up in the invaluable contributions of every player in the game at key times.

From Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s consolidation with Lara, to Carl Hooper’s run-a-ball innings which helped to keep the pressure off of Lara.

Then came the selfless quick-scoring partnership between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Ricardo Powell at the end of the West Indies innings.

It is easy to sense a unity in the camp that has not always been evident.

It is now old news that double world batting record holder Brian Lara is focused and he seems to be a driven man who is not only enjoying his batting but the opportunity to be on the field with his team-mates.

His century against South Africa was a high-class one and in a league of its own. But it was his energy and contributions in the field that were more obvious to me. He was involved in many impromptu discussions on field-placing with the captain and bowler, and was generally energetic.

The second game against New Zealand was a huge disappointment for the team and the form of the team in general.

It was more of a mental slip or in other words a slightly complacent approach from the batsmen than anything else. A lot has been made of the Marlon Samuels dropped catch in the closing overs, and yes it should have been taken at this level, especially as there have been some crucial misses in recent times by the team.

Even in the first game against South Africa, Lance Klusener almost made it pay when Pedro Collins could not restrain himself from an extra stride backwards when taking the catch, or in India when Drakes missed a run-out chance offered by Rahul Dravid, who went on to get a match-winning hundred.

You can never tell when these will come back to haunt you. The catch was costly but if you had asked captain Carl Hooper if 241 was a total he would be happy to chase at the beginning of the day against New Zealand, I am sure he would not have raised much objection.

Once again we saw the rearguard fighting qualities of Sarwan and Jacobs.

It makes it clear that what has happened with the batting in India - where the West Indies won the one-day series 4-3 - was no fluke but genuine maturity.

Where there is a problem is in the bowling department as I feel that the team is a specialist bowler short. I made the point before the tournament started that three specialist bowlers and Hooper is not an adequate combination, especially when Collins and Nixon McLean seem to be struggling.

Drakes is the best option with the new ball as he is clever and has the control and consistency needed to bowl in the first 15 overs when the fielding restrictions are in place.

The team barely got away with three bowlers against South Africa at the end of the innings but paid the penalty against New Zealand when Andre Adams got hold of Chris Gayle.

It was good to see Wavell Hinds getting a long bowl and doing well with three for 35 off his 10 overs.