GROS ISLET, St Lucia, (CMC) - Having been frustrated by almost two weeks of unseasonal rainfall through three territories in the southern Caribbean, West Indies and England are raring to go for the fifth and sixth One-Day Internationals with the promise of excellent cricketing weather today and tomorrow.
Cloudless skies in the two days leading up to the matches have heightened anticipation among fans and players alike with capacity crowds virtually guaranteed for both matches while the visitors have been almost too keen to get back on the field with the sun on their backs.
“We actually had to pull the guys back a bit on Thursday,” said England captain Michael Vaughan on the eve of today’s duel. “We had to remind them that the really hard workout was yesterday.”
The tourists’ enthusiasm was understandable after only 16 overs of play was possible in the last three matches with the last two being abandoned without a ball bowled in Trinidad and Grenada.
Leading 1-0 after the rain-shortened opener in Guyana in what is effectively now a four-match series, England are aware that consecutive victories at the Beausejour Cricket Ground will give them the ‘double’ of Test and ODI series triumphs in the Caribbean.
Playing here on what he described as “the best ground in the Caribbean,” Vaughan emphasised that there is no suggestion of taking it easy among his players.
“We’re going flat out to win,” he reiterated. “Whatever the frustrations of the past week, that’s now gone, and there’ll certainly be no excuses from us this weekend.”
Brian Lara also reflected that upbeat mood and the West Indies captain is mindful that another home series loss to the English - albeit in the abbreviated version of the game - will effectively terminate the honeymoon period following his world record Test innings in Antigua almost three weeks ago.
“After any innings, the next one starts at zero,” he stated. “I haven’t had an opportunity to get out in the middle in a competitive match since the world record. But it’s important that I focus on what is necessary for the team.
Thinking too much of the past is something that we don’t do in our team very regularly anyway, except in learning from the experience.”
Lara is understandably the focus of most attention. He needs 116 runs to become West Indies’ highest scorer in ODI’s. But he remains adamant that the success of the team, rather than any individual, should be paramount.
“What the fans should be expecting is something special from the team,” he said. “We are looking to get back in the series. Whatever part I can play, with the bat or as captain, I’ve got to play it to the best of my ability. The expectations are going to be great, but a West Indies victory is most important.”
Despite the heavy rains earlier in the week, the light brown colour of the pitch suggests that there should be no terrors for the batsman, although its tendency to be slow and low may hinder attacking strokeplay, particularly in the second match tomorrow.
Neither team seems certain on what to expect as the West Indies won back-to-back matches against New Zealand batting second two years ago, while they fell 25 runs short of Australia’s total of 258 last year.
While all these permutations are pondered by the principals, almost everyone else is just happy that barring a dramatic change in the weather conditions, cricket rather than rain will be the centre of attention in the final stage of this seven-match series.
Squads:
WEST INDIES (from): Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Sylvester Joseph, Ricardo Powell, Ravi Rampaul, Dwayne Smith.
ENGLAND (from): Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick (vice-captain), James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Blackwell, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, James Kirtley, Anthony McGrath, Chris Read, Andrew Strauss.