I felt bitterly let down, frustrated, and angry and sad when the West Indies did not make it through the preliminary round of the World Cup. Mind you, this must be as nothing to what South African supporters must have felt as they watched the home favourites go out in a tied game, as they had done in the previous World Cup in 1999.
Mark Boucher was advised that 229 was enough to put South Africa through and therefore made no effort to score off the last ball before the rain break, only to find that the infamously obscure Duckworth/Lewis calculations called not for 229 but for 230 to win. Can you imagine the chagrin, the horror, the stunned disbelief, the recriminations, the recurring nightmare that will wake Pollock and his team screaming in endless nights to think what might have been?
Our regret cannot be of that unique order but it is bad enough. I have heard it said that we have only ourselves to blame since we should have beaten either New Zealand or Sri Lanka or both, and there is an element of truth in that sad claim. Surely it must be agreed that the main factors in our elimination had nothing to do with cricket. We would have got through if Kenya had not won four points by default against New Zealand and/or we would have got through if rain had not taken two points from us in the match against Bangladesh. That combination was simply the Fates, with a helping hand from foolish rule-makers, playing particularly dirty, nothing to do with how we batted or bowled or fielded.
There were disappointments in how we performed. The biggest disappointment for me was the captain’s lacklustre performance. I have always been a wholehearted, not to say passionate, admirer and supporter of Carl Hooper but, to put it plainly, he did not measure up to the high demands of this great occasion. His batting, shaky and tentative, was a dim shadow of Hooper at his elegant, self-assured and dominant best. He failed badly when he was most needed, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. But more importantly, he did not provide the alert, aggressive, enthusiastic, self-confident leadership which is essential in seeing a team through crises and lifting it to success. The heart seemed to have gone out of Hooper. Even in post-game interviews he seemed subdued and depressed. A little more fury at how badly the Gods, and stupid rules, had treated his team would have been welcome.
Brian Lara’s brilliant, tumultuous, disruptive career continued. Will he be disciplined for his outburst of gross team disrespect at the practice nets before the vital game against Sri Lanka? Are his days numbered in the game which he has lit with so much glory? Perhaps the young batsmen will be better off out of the shadow cast by his blazing sun. Certainly young Sarwan seems to be measuring himself for greatness. I love cricket but it is West Indies that I really love, so with the departure of the West Indies the heart and guts of my interest in their World Cup has gone.
I am watching it but no longer will I sit in my chair a couple of yards away from the TV shaking with fear, shouting with exultation, not bearing to look, not bearing not to look, jumping up and walking around agitatedly, raging at unreasonable umpires, icy cold as a game’s climax approaches, warmly optimistic all day long in victory, in defeat despairing and bad tempered.
For what it is worth, I want anyone but Australia to win. That is where my interest will not be centred. I know that they are the best team, even without Warne and Gillespie, but I am hoping that the bagatelle of one-day play may somehow lead to their defeat in the semi-final or final. It will require a team on the day to have in abundance the ‘right stuff,’ a combination of toughness, dedication and an absolute refusal to be intimidated by any challenge or any man. Nothing less than this, plus a touch of genius and some slices of luck, will be necessary to have a chance of beating this clinically destructive, trained-to-a-hair, super-confident, unrelenting Australian team; these relaxed executioners led by an energetic, buoyant and intelligent captain.
I think India has the best chance against them, though perhaps New Zealand, the one team over which Australia has no psychological dominance, may be the ones to do best. But, tell me, might not weather and the hideous machinations of Duckworth/Lewis somehow engineer one victory after another for Kenya and see that cheerful crew of weekend stalwarts emerge triumphant holding the Cup aloft? In a perversely appropriate way, that would be marvellous.