THE West Indies have concentrated more on theory than practice in the three days they have had to prepare for today's second match against England in the triangular NatWest Series at Headingley.
The team took the two hour coach journey from Nottingham to Leeds on Monday when they had the day off but for light gym work.
Those players who deemed it necessary had "optional" practice onTuesday and the entire squad was confined to the indoor nets for a lengthy session at the well-appointed Yorkshire Cricket Centre by more of the wet weather that has so far cancelled two of the four matches in the tournament.
What has occupied their time more is making a critical assessment of the matches that have been played.
"Everybody watched the England-New Zealand match on Tuesday and we've also examined excerpts of our games (against New Zealand and England) over the weekend," captain Brian Lara told the media conference yesterday.
"That's one of the areas we want to work on, applying a lot of classroom cricket to teach the guys how to read and react to different situations," he said.
"We've got a lot of positive response. The kind of talk in our team meetings now is excellent," Lara added. "It shows the guys are learning a lot of cricket."
It was a point confirmed by manager Tony Howard.
"At the start of the tour, we supplied the players with notebooks and pens and, at first, they couldn't understand what they were for," he explained. "Now they're all involved in making notes and commenting on various aspects of the game."
It is an essential exercise that ideally should be introduced from the time a player is chosen for his territory at the under-15 level.
But successive West Indies coaches have complained that players come to them ignorant of the tactical side of the game. It is a little overdue to start educating them when they reach the highest level but it is better late than never.
Lara said the common theme running through the discussions on the NatWest matches so far is the importance of batting through the first 15 overs when the combination of the white ball, fresh pitches and damp atmosphere make batting more difficult that at any other time.
It is likely to be even more vital for today's match, a day-night fixture on the ground with a deserved reputation as the most favourable to swing and seam bowling in England.
Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul batted through to the 15th over in the first, eventually abandoned match against New Zealand and to the 20th in Sunday's victory over England.
Neither the England nor New Zealand openers have survived through the first 15 overs in their matches.
England's heavy, successive losses to the West Indies and New Zealand, following the no decision in their washed out first match against New Zealand, means that another defeat would all but be an early elimination from the July 10 final between the two top teams.
Each team was scheduled to play the other three times but, prior to their victory on Tuesday, both New Zealand's first two matches - against England and the West Indies - were transformed in no decisions by the weather.
New Zealand's win over England and the bonus point gained put them top the table with 12 points (six for the win, three each for the two abandoned matches).
The West Indies have nine points from two matches and England three from three, only through their no-decision against New Zealand.
"If you look at the table, New Zealand is ahead so we need to win tomorrow to go back to the top and that is what we intend to do," he said.
Nor is he discounting England.
"It's still in the early stages of the tournament and we are looking at this as a must-win situation for us," he said.
"I haven't worked out the maths yet but I'm pretty sure that if England win all their remaining matches after tomorrow they still have a slim chance," he noted. "But that is not our worry. What we have to do is win our early matches to ensure we get through to the final so we have plenty of time to prepare for it."
While the West Indies are confident and upbeat, England are in some disarray. It is a welcome reversal of roles from the recent series in the West Indies.
"Panic stations" was the headline in yesterday's Daily Mail, summing up England's woes after their dismissal for 147 by the West Indies and 101 by New Zealand.
While the West Indies keep an unchanged team, England are under pressure to change theirs. If they do, it will be against the advice of coach Duncan Fletcher.
"I'd like to see the side stay the same," Fletcher said yesterday. "We've been through this with the Test side and it's because they've stayed together and know their roles that they are functioning so well."
The teams:
England (probable): Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Geraint Jones, Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood, Anthony McGrath, Ian Blackwell, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson.
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (captain), Ricardo Powell, Dwayne Bravo, Ridley Jacobs, Ian Bradshaw, Ravi Rampaul, Jermaine Lawson.