A moment to savour Editorial
Guyana Chronicle
May 24, 2002

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CONGRATULATIONS to the West Indies team for a magnificent morale-boosting victory over India in what was a keenly contested series between two evenly-matched teams.

Displaying grit, determination and tremendous team spirit, they completed a splendid comeback from 1-0 down after defeat in the second Test at the Queen’s Park Oval by 37 runs to overwhelm their opponents by ten wickets and 155 runs at Kensington Oval and Sabina Park respectively, to seal a satisfying 2-1 triumph.

They entered the series with numerous problems after succumbing to humiliating defeats to Sri Lanka and Pakistan by 3-0 and 2-0 margins, plunging their record on foreign fields in the past five years to a chaotic situation; losing 23 of the last 27 Tests, despite maintaining their impeccable record on home territory of losing only two series in the past 30 years.

The Guyanese trio of Captain Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramneresh Sarwan were the linchpins of the batting with Chanderpaul and Hooper being outstanding.

The efforts of Mervyn Dillon, leader of the pack in the bowling department, the consistent Cameron Cuffy, the fast-improving and pacy Adam Sanford and the energetic fast-medium bowling of Pedro Collins also contritbuted significantly to the team’s cause.

Hooper’s leadership was exemplary as he led from the front and the marked improvement in the Windies’ fielding is a tribute to the hard work of Coach Roger Harper and the rest of the management team, working cohesively to mould this team into a well-oiled unit. It was a wonderful effort by the squad with Ridley Jacobs’s return to his rightful position adding much fillip to the fragile tail.

The entire Caribbean for one fleeting moment stood still, oblivious of the multitude of problems plaguing not only our beloved country but also other nations of the West Indies, as Hooper and his troops drove triumphantly around Sabina Park in Chanderpaul’s Man-of-the-Series vehicle.

It was a moment to savour.