THE West Indies emphatic victory over England in both the Test and one-day series has led to much euphoria in the Caribbean and this is entirely understandable, coming as it did after a thrashing by Pakistan. The team had sunk to depths it had never plumbed for over 50 years and thus victory by any margin was bound to be greeted with cheers.
But given the fact that a new man was at the helm, one whose elevation has long been expected to lead to better fortunes, many commentators have tended to go somewhat overboard and predict that the West Indies are now well set to reclaim something of their old ascendancy. I think this kind of expectation is highly premature and that there is bound to be sore disappointment round the corner if people are led up the garden path this way.
True, England were swamped. True, the West Indies crossed 400 for the first time in a year. True, they managed to locate an opening pair who produced decent opening stands, including one over a hundred (to put that in perspective, one must remember that it is just the second century stand since the old firm of Gordon and Desmond were parted in 1991). And again, true, they have found a spinner who did something of worth. There are a couple of fast bowlers in the wings as well.
But all this must be looked at that bit more carefully because in just listing them in this manner, one tends to gloss over a lot of little details. How many years of cricket does Clayton Lambert have left? The man is 36. His partner is no spring chicken either. Hooper continues to be his enigmatic self -- a man who would have been among the top three in the world if he plays to even half of his talent continues to have a woeful Test average. He was just a wee bit more consistent in this series, a trait he has shown before only to lapse into his old ways.
Lara has captained the team in six Tests and four of those have ended in victory. Some people can find no wrong in him, others see him as an ordinary leader. I think his real worth will be seen only after both Walsh and Ambrose retire and he has to nurture young, emerging fast bowlers into becoming match-winners. In his first full series he has had two veterans who can still pull out sufficient reserves to bowl the team to victory. Remember, that final Test was won by Walsh, nobody else. Had these two old warhorses not been around, it may well have been a different story.
Some of Lara's decisions during the series appeared to be made by a man who just wanted to be different from the rest. Some smacked of immaturity. Some smacked of a good cricketing brain. And victory aside, Lara is yet to show the kind of form of which he is capable and on which his reputation as a batsman has been built.
My feeling is that Lara's South African odyssey will be a defining moment; it will show whether he can be ranked up there with the good captains or whether he is just a pretender to the throne. There is sufficient motivation to perform well and I won't dwell on the reasons. And even if there weren't, Lara would definitely want to maintain the momentum for to him the jewel in the crown would be regaining the Frank Worrell Trophy.
Thus, while many may see this series as one which has reaped gains for the West Indies, I tend to see it exactly the opposite way. A mediocre English team was defeated in such a manner as to make the West Indies appear much stronger than they really are. Only some genuinely tough opponents -- one cannot think of a better combine than South Africa on their own turf -- can prove that this victory was not just virtual reality.
