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Woeful show from Windies

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 30/05/2009

Many touring sides have come to England and struggled to hit top form, but the current West Indies cricket squad must rank as one the outfits to have underperformed by the biggest margin.

Having won a Test series between the two sides only a matter of weeks before arriving in England, the Windies had reason to be optimistic about their prospects.

However, their hopes were soon in tatters as both their batting and bowling failed to fire.

In the two Test matches Ramnaresh Sarwan was the only man to hit a century, with Chris Gayle and Brendan Nash the only other members of the top six to register 50s.

The bowling was possibly even worse, with only a committed display by paceman Fidel Edwards at Lord's being up to scratch.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the fielding was beyond abysmal, with six catches going down in one session during the ten-wicket first Test thrashing at Lord's.

The second Test at Durham ended in an innings defeat, following skipper Gayle's decision to give a pre-match interview in which he spoke of his unhappiness with that role.

He attempted to backtrack after the loss and still retained hope for the one-day international series to come, saying: "We have to put this series behind us and look forward to the ODIs.

"We have the guys to do the job. It certainly can't go much worse than the last two weeks."

Sadly for Gayle it could, with only rain at Headingley denying England a 3-0 whitewash.

Again the tourists' batting was woeful, with only two half-centuries scored in the defeats at Bristol and Edgbaston, one of those coming from all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

He had been considering too short of full fitness for the Test series, but oh how the Windies could have done with a few more players showing the commitment and desire that Bravo displayed on his return.

Much of the criticism of the tourists' displays has centred on Gayle, who failed to show the leadership he had done at home in the Caribbean, while also not being able to build any big innings to help his side out either.

The left-hander is undeniably one of the most talented batsmen on the planet, but his lack of concentration could see him get his wish to stick to Twenty20 cricket in the near future.

Such a situation would be a shame for the game and something that Gayle would almost certainly come to regret in the future.

Both Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul also failed to hit top from, with England's attack, superbly led by James Anderson looking far more potent on their home pitches.

The Windies' bowling was generally sub-standard, but mouthy left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn deserves special mention.

Always quick to greet and England batsman with some banter, Benn took a mere four Test wickets and only one in the two ODIs to finish with some sorry stats.

Less talk and more action is needed from Benn and that motto could equally apply to Gayle after his part in a dismal display from the men from the Caribbean.

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