Recovery quest
By Tony Cozier
Stabroek News
April 10, 2007
They could reinstate India, give away tickets with $100 attached, provide free flying fish and cou cou in the stands and arrange for between-overs bursts of brass from Bryon Lee and steel from Despers.
But nothing would better revive this troubled World Cup for disgruntled West Indians than victories in their remaining Super 8 matches that are compulsory for Brian Lara's team even to have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Of all the many problems that have plagued the first appearance of the game's premier event in the Caribbean, none has been more disappointing and demeaning for the home supporters than the incompetence of their team when it mattered most.
It has caused successive losses to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the Super 8 round, all in the space of six days and all by crushing margins, and left them one defeat away from elimination.
With inevitable, and valid, condemnation ringing in their ears, much of it from past greats, they start their quest for recovery at the rebuilt Queen's Park Stadium here today, against South Africa. Opponents who have lost their top spot on the ICC rating following their upset loss to lowly Bangladesh in Guyana last Saturday.
There has been a break of nine days since the Sri Lanka match. Some players took time off, away from public attention, to be with family and friends before reassembling here.
It should have been a valuable period for regrouping and restoring team harmony, so blatantly missing in the field in previous encounters.
Perhaps they have watched a few of those Cup matches in the interim and noted the spirit of the Bangladeshis and Irish that have rendered two little fancied teams so competitive.
The contrast with the West Indies was most evident in the constant verbal encouragement to his teammates of Mushfiqar Rahim, Bangladeshi's 18-year-old baby-faced wicket-keeper, and the hush of Denesh Ramdin, the cheerleader when playing for Trinidad and Tobago but an increasingly muted observer for the West Indies.
The clear absence of energy and enthusiasm in the field reflects troubles off it. We will soon know whether captain Brian Lara, coach Bennett King and team coordinator Clive Lloyd have managed to restore them.
Unless they have, the West Indies won't be going anywhere near the semi-finals and the already heavy pressure to replace them will simply mount.
A few interesting days lie ahead.