Easter cricket treat

TRINI cricket fans are in for an Easter treat as the West Indies battle to level the Test series against Australia at the Oval over the next five days. Although the Windies lost the first encounter in the Cable and Wireless series in Guyana, our team, under the renewed captaincy of Brian Lara, showed great fighting spirit, and we expect that the match starting at the Oval today will produce a feast of exciting cricket, if not a result in Windies favour.

The West Indies and Australia have always been great cricketing rivals, but the difference in this series, following a decline in WI fortunes, is the effort that the home team must make in their bid to regain the prominent place the region once occupied in the Test arena. The duel at the Oval, then, should be a crucial and fascinating one as a young and talented West Indies team come up against the formidable Australians again, seeking not only to even the score in the series but also to gain the kind of self confidence they need for the great task ahead.

Trini fans, of course, will be hoping to see their home-grown heroes, Lara, Ganga and Dillon play a prominent, if not match-winning, part in this key encounter at the Oval. Lara now seems to be at the top of his game, both as captain and leading batsman, and much is expected of him. His aggressive, innovative and encouraging style of leadership should bring a more interesting dimension to the game. Ganga, back in the side again, justified his return by scoring his maiden Test century at Bourda and we expect he will be anxious to repeat this splendid performance before his home crowd.

But our hopes are high for the Windies largely because of the courageous investment we have made in our young players, all of whom have the potential to achieve world class status. It is unfortunate that the home team will be without the services of wicket-keeper Jacobs, recovering from a groin injury, fast bowler Lawson, down with a suspected attack of chicken pox and ex-skipper Hooper who has left the side, but interest in this match is heightened by the likely selection of some exciting new players, such as Barbadian pacer Tino Best, 20-year-old Anguilla-born off-spinner Omari Banks and young Jamaican wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh. They have all been outstanding in regional tournaments and their call-up by the WICB may provide them with the opportunity to prove their Test worthiness. Who knows, before this series is over another WI star among them may be born. The return of Sarwan, who missed the first Test because of a fractured finger, and the confirmed fitness of his compatriot Chanderpaul who was struck a painful blow on his left knee, is also good news for the Windies.

The last Aussie tour of the region in 1999 proved to be a thrilling see-saw affair, ending in a 2-2 draw, with the visitors winning the first and fourth at the Oval and in Antigua and the Windies taking the second and third Tests at Sabina and Kensington. Captain Lara, then under "probation" by the WICB, played a key role in that series, scoring 213 at Sabina and holding out with Walsh to snatch a memorable one-wicket victory in the Barbados Test. The following year, however, our tour of Australia turned out to be an unmitigated disaster, as we suffered a 5-0 whitewash. But the Windies have always played better cricket at home and, with the line-up of young talent we can now place in the field under Lara's leadership, our hopes are high for the Oval encounter, the rest of the series and our future in the game. We sincerely expect, however, that the quality of umpiring at the Oval will be a vast improvement to what we saw at the Bourda Test.