Saying goodbye?
By Orin Davidson In Georgetown
Stabroek News
April 2, 2007
West Indies virtually said goodbye to World Cup 2007 yesterday amidst another meltdown in their pitiful Super Eight campaign so far.
Their third straight loss in the second round means they are near the bottom of the points table with their hope of advancing to the last four hanging by a string.
The teams that have beaten them Australia, New Zealand and now Sri Lanka, are too good to falter that badly in their remaining matches to give the home team supporters much hope.
It means that the West Indies must win their three remaining games and hope luck runs their way in other results.
Australia's dominating showing so far places them head and shoulders above the eight teams on show.
They have crushed everyone in their path and it now seems academic that they will reach the final four.
New Zealand, the other unbeaten team, is playing as efficiently as they could and it will be difficult to prevent them taking one of those four places.
And Sri Lanka is proving that the superiority they exhibited in Group B was not a flash in the pan after the whipping they handed West Indies yesterday following a narrow loss to South Africa on Thursday.
In all probability it means West Indies will have to contend with South Africa and England, two of the remaining three teams they have to beat, to make their slim chance of advancing a reality.
And unless they produce a Herculean effort to turn around the team's fortunes and win the World Cup with the greatest comeback in World Cup history, the West Indies Cricket Board would have much food for thought on the team's future.
But first the management has to deal with the obvious lack of enthusiasm which was a continuation yesterday from the two loses in Antigua.
The type of high-spiritedness in the field which took them to their biggest win in recent times, over Australia in the Champions Trophy preliminaries last year, was glaringly absent.
Such was the forlorn body language displayed, it seemed the record 12,208 Providence stadium crowd, was more fired up than the men on the field.
The fact that the bowling attack only managed to take five Sri Lanka wickets, failing for the third time to bowl out the opposition is an indication of an attack gone awry
Captain Brian Lara attributed the lethargy to tiredness, claiming they had played four games in 10 days.
But even if the team is without a physical trainer to assess and implement measures to get the best from the fast bowlers, there should be no excuse for the players not showing enthusiasm in the field.
The fact that it is the World Cup, being staged in their backyard for the first time, alone should give players energy, moreso when crowd encouragement is strong.
The batting mirrored the fielding and bowling and it was only when home stars Shiv Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan belatedly upped the ante in their 92-run fourth wicket stand, that it was obvious the crowd's energy had finally had an effect.
Coach Bennett King was hired to take the team back or close to its once esteemed position on top of the world. The WICB made a tough decision to make him the Region's first foreign coach.
By handing him the biggest ever coaching contract and unprecedented authority, the Board showed they were fully confident in his ability to get the job done.
But they have gotten little in return for the money and the angst generated to have him in charge of the team.
Lara has long stated his desire to discontinue ODI games and after three stints at the helm he would be disappointed with the results.
His captaincy has come under heavy fire of late and yesterday there was not much deviation from the ongoing trend.
Jerome Taylor was the most economical of the bowlers, yet his 10-over allotment was not maximized, ending with eight for 32.
Instead Chris Gayle who bled 60 runs, had nine overs and Dwayne Bravo was persisted with at the death although going at eight an over.
To add insult to injury, Lara, who was expected to lead the victory charge for the 304-run target was dismissed in a highly embarrassing manner.
To be stumped off a medium pacer was not the most responsible way to lead a team to victory. Those are for rookies in pressure situations.
The last week has been a nightmare for the West Indies captain and his team.
Lara has said that the coming week's rest before the team's next game against South Africa might do the trick and turn their fortunes around.
But based on their recent approach, it would unwise to hold one's breath.