The West Indies cricket team, still smarting from their 1-2 one-day series defeat to Sri Lanka, start the two-Test series against the same opponents in Saint Lucia Friday knowing that they have a lot to prove ahead of their tough tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa later in the year.
Of the six test matches contested between the two sides, the West Indies have won one, lost three and drawn two. Their only victory was recorded in their last series against Sri Lanka at home when they took the 1997 two-Test series 1-0 under the captaincy of Courtney Walsh.
When the two sides clashed for the first time in a Test match in 1993, the solitary Test was ruined by rain in Sri Lanka and ended in a draw.
Eight years later when the West Indies returned to Sri Lanka, they were destroyed by the swing of left-arm pacer Chaminda Vaas and the magic of off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka winning every game in the three-Test series despite the brilliance of Brian Lara who scored 688 runs from six innings.
While Lara hammered three centuries, including a double century in the final Test none of the other batsmen except Ramnaresh Sarwan (318), reached 170 runs in the series.
Skipper Carl Hooper (167) and Darren Ganga (104) were the only batsmen apart from Lara and Sarwan to reach 100 runs in the series.
Lara, who scored 115 in St Vincent in 1997 remains the only West Indian to record a test ton against Sri Lanka.
Vaas, who collected 26 wickets including two seven-wicket hauls in the final Test in Colombo, dismissed opener Chris Gayle five times out of the six times he batted. Gayle scored 10 runs in five innings including a double duck in the last test. He seemed totally at sea against the swinging ball, managing just 64 runs from six innings.
Muralitharan, with 450 wickets to his name from 80 Test matches including a world record 11 ten-wicket hauls, supported Vaas with 24 wickets as the Windies batsmen were repeatedly knocked over like nine pins.
Marlon Samuels managed a half-century (54) but finished with just 76 runs from six innings while the experienced Ridley Jacobs showed his discomfort to spin bowling by totalling 79 runs from six innings despite an unbeaten 31 in the last test.
Even without their leading batsmen Ranatunga and Aravindra de Silva, the only Sri Lankans with 5,000 test runs, the home team amassed 590 in the first test and 627 in the last, as no West Indian bowler took more than 10 wickets.
Leg spinner Dianauth Ramnarine (10), Mervin Dillon (9) and Pedro Collins (7) were the only West Indians with more than two wickets in the series.
The West Indies are in the process of rebuilding a team and of the 16 players who last toured Sri Lanka only Lara, Sarwan, Gayle, Samuels and Jacobs can be considered certainties for this series.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul is out of the series with a broken finger, Hooper and Colin Stuart have virtually retired, while Ramnarine, Marlon Black, Reon King, Leon Garrick, Neil McGarrell and Pedro Collins are out of the selectors’ thoughts at present.
Darren Ganga, not considered for the one-day team, scored hundreds against Australia in the first two tests but only managed 48 runs from his six other innings and could be in danger of losing his place in the side.
Dillon in the four test matches against Australia captured 11 at a cost of 490 runs. He eventually lost his place in both the test and one day team and could also be hard pressed to regain his spot.
The same can be said of 33-year-old pacer Vasbert Drakes, who looked jaded and sub-standard at the end of the one-day series against Sri Lanka.
Banking on youth, the West Indies selected their youngest team ever this season with five debutants among the 17 players used for the tests series against Australia which the home team lost 3-1.
However, Carlton Baugh Jnr. and Omari Banks two tests each, David Bernard Jnr. with a solitary test and Devon Smith who has played four Tests could all be on the sidelines for the Sri Lanka series joining pacer Jermaine Lawson who took a career best 7-78 in the final test in Antigua, but is out because of a back injury.
Although their quickest bowler, Dilhara Fernando, is absent, Vaas with 212 wickets from 66 tests should receive good support from Prabath Nissanka who bowls with genuine pace.
Muralitharan, off-spinner Kumar Dharmasena and left-arm spinning all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya are all expected to test the talented but inconsistent West Indies batting line up.
Gayle and Hinds could again find negotiating the new ball problematic leaving much of the scoring again to Lara with support from Sarwan and Samuels, both gifted batsmen who need to work on their shot selection.
Thrice the West Indies team has scored in excess of 300 runs against Sri Lanka (448 in S/L in 2001), (390 in S/L in 2001) and (343 in St. Vincent in 1997) but if Lara fails, the young brigade could be blown away by Vaas and Muralitharan quite easily.
Apart from Jayasuriya and one-day skipper Marvin Attapattu who both have 10 Test tons, Kumar Sangakkara and Test captain Hashan Tillakaratne (204 not out & 105 not out) scored centuries the last time they batted against the West Indies in a Test series while Mahela Jayawardene already has nine Test centuries to his name from 49 matches.
Lara scored 533 runs against Australia in the four Tests but, apart from Sarwan (287) no other West Indian reached 280 with Samuels making eight runs in three innings after scoring 68 in one knock.
The West Indies’ strength lies with their batting and if they cannot make big totals then, even with the emerging talent of 18-year-old pacer Jerome Taylor, Darren Powell, the raw pace of Best, the experience of Cory Collymore and the spin of Ryan Hurley or Banks, the West Indies just do not have the ammunition to fire out Sri Lanka twice for cheap scores to win the test series.
After recording meaningless wins over Australia when both the Test and one-day series were already lost, West Indies were favoured to beat Sri Lanka in the three match one-day series to prove that their cricket was on the improve.
Inconsistent cricket and a lack of mental toughness which resulted in six dropped catches, a stumping chance and two run out opportunities being wasted in the important second match, which probably caused the West Indies to lose the series.
The West Indies will hope for a solid team performance at the start of the series. If they learn how to maintain their composure under pressure and fight to the very end, they could avoid defeat, especially if quick pitches are prepared for the two Tests.
Consistency, mental toughness and the ability to nullify ‘Murali’ and Vass will be key factors if West Indies are to avoid another embarrassing series loss in their own backyard.
Sri Lanka play the President’s 1X in their only warm up game in St. Vincent. That three-day game concludes tomorrow and if the pace trio of Best, Powell and Taylor perform well they should all be included in the test squad in preference to Dillon and Drakes, as the rebuilding process continues.
My first test 13-man squad- Gayle, W. Hinds, Lara, Sarwan, Samuels, Hurley, Jacobs, D.Powell, Collymore, Best, Taylor, Ganga, Banks.