Sloppy West Indies pay the price

LONDON: If the West Indies cricket team was not as a unit embarrassed at what transpired at Lord’s, then they should be. The batting was acceptable and in Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s case, it was excellent. Brian Lara should have chosen to bat first. In other areas of the game, they simply stunk —  for any level of cricket. Losing has become a fine art for the West Indies team and one sometimes wonders if some of the players care at all.  Having lost half of the 58 Tests they have played since January 1, 2000, I’m not holding my breath that this result will make them better, stronger or any more reflective.

They were very sloppy overall and some in the Caribbean are already suggesting a whitewash. Captain Brian Lara dumbfounded all on the first day. Having won the toss, he should have chosen to bat first, to accentuate the team’s best asset. Gambling with a bowling attack with no leader, one that seemed to have no idea as to what it was supposed to do in the match, was just senseless. Fidel Edwards, who arrived in the UK only a week or so before the Test, had figures of one for 82 from ten overs in the match preceding the Test against Sri Lanka’s “A” team. It was a fixture played against “opposition that we thought would have been stronger” to quote the team’s captain, yet Edwards was selected for the Test.

I doubt that Clive Lloyd would have selected any one of his big fast bowlers with such poor preparation. In the meantime, Jermaine Lawson, who was the team’s form bowler, was left on the sidelines for no apparent reason. The West Indies effectively bowled themselves out of the game by conceding nearly 400 runs on day one at Lord’s. There could be no coming back from that, despite an improved effort on the second day. Pedro Collins bowled well and deserved his wickets, since he tried diligently to do the right thing, but Tino Best and Omari Banks were terribly disappointing. The occasion simply got to them. And the shot Best played to give away his wicket when Chanderpaul was looking for a second century in the match should cost him his place.

You have to be able to think correctly to play Test cricket. The most depressing thing about the Lord’s Test match was not that the West Indies lost, but that they do not seem to understand and appreciate what it takes to play at the highest level. The fielding was poor, the attitude was almost care-free. I hope team management now force the players to examine their lack of intensity and focus on the basics of the game. Corey Collymore should certainly be included at Edgbaston, even if under-prepared, along with Lawson, replacing Best and Edwards. For West Indies to win the Second Test, the bowlers would have to do a 180-degree turn in level of performance although regrouping in such a short time will be tough.