WINDIES EMERGE WITH ENHANCED IMAGE FROM ODI SERIES

“I backed myself to win the match. Even at 7 wickets down defeat never entered my thoughts.” That was West Indies captain Darren Sammy after he was named Man of the Match in the fifth and final one-day international against Australia in St. Lucia on Sunday. The West Indies lost the match but shared the series 2-2 with the world’s number one team.

It was a series the West Indies should have won but wasted a glorious opportunity to win the third match and the series in St. Vincent when with the scores tied and the West Indies needing one run to win with three balls remaining, threw the match away when Darren Sammy was run out with two balls still to be bowled. That being said, the West Indies did not lose and gained 86 points for the tied series which puts them within a hair’s breadth of overtaking New Zealand for number 7 in the ICC rankings.

What is more important is the fact that the West Indies – even though it has only been for a few matches – has shown that maybe the team is getting better, if only marginally. Except for the first one day international, the West Indies were competitive in all the matches and even though they lost the final match, showed good fight as was demonstrated by Sammy’s statement. The captain has had to fight from the day he assumed the role of captain and has been under constant criticism from the throng that have been convinced that he is not captaincy material. At the outset that might have been true, but over the past year Sammy led the West Indies bowling attack as one of the top wicket takers, and in this just concluded series, had a good run with the bat. Scores of 35, 10, 31 not out and 84, the second highest score by any player during the series, saw Sammy lead lower order recoveries that have demonstrated rarely seen resolve. Along with Andre Russell, and Kieron Pollard, who scored the only century during the five-match series; Sammny completes a lower-order threesome that could make the West Indies very dangerous in the near future if the top order decides to finally come to the table.

Players like Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels have been disappointing and need to be more consistent laying a strong foundation for the team to build on. Adrian Barath, while performing well with a pair of 40′s after being selected to replace the over-rated Kieran Powell, needs to bat through the innings and allow the team to bat around him. He has the potential, he must now start to realize it.

People will argue that this Australian team is not the strongest but is the number one team in the world. Michael Clarke, for example, was unable to make this trip because of injury. His absence was very glaring in the middle order who were unable to keep the West Indies bowling at bay for long. However, the same can be said about the West Indies. Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, and Ravi Rampaul would have been significant additions to the team and given what we know now, could have seen the West Indies sweep the series.

We now wait to see the outcome of the T20 matches and the all-important Tests. The West Indies have started well, and have shown good fight but that has been over the period of a day. They will have to be willing for show that fight for five days once the real series begins in a little while but it is good that we have been seeing encouraging signs so far. It is even better that that fight is seen as coming from the front, from the much-maligned team leader.