Ramdin wants more self-belief from West Indies

After Christmas lunch, West Indies will have a talent show and they're not talking about the Boxing Day Test in Port Elizabeth. It is a tradition in their team to entertain each other with singing, dancing and even the playing of the saxophone over the festive season as they put cricket aside and celebration in front.

"Perhaps you should save the performance for the field," some of the media suggested when Denesh Ramdin revealed their plans for their day off. The West Indies captain smiled politely in response, because he had already described their discussions for a must-win - or must save-face as it being spoken of here - match.

"We've stressed on the guys who got starts in the first innings that they need to kick on to 70 or 80 and then even to a 100. Carry on so the team won't be under pressure," Ramdin said. "And then we need to bowl a bit fuller on these pitches. The South African guys play pretty good with the short stuff. The crowds want to see exciting cricket, the style of cricket we play but we are not consistent. We need to work on those areas consistently."

A more compete performance from his team required what Ramdin called a mental shift. "We need to believe in ourselves a bit more."

Although Ramdin acknowledged that Kemar Roach's withdrawal from the tour through injury was a blow, he had full confidence in the men who may replace him. "We have Shannon Gabriel and Kenroy Peters and either one of them could come into the team. They are both good enough to do the same job as Kemar."

Similarly, Ramdin thought his batting line-up is equally equipped to deal with the South African pack, especially as a strong showing could earn them some much-needed kudos. "When you do well against a team like South Africa, you get a lot of credit for it. Hopefully the guys will look deep into themselves and pull out that magical performance."

There has only been one previous example of that by West Indies in South Africa. They won the first Test of the 2007-08 series, which was also played in Port Elizabeth. Ramdin was part of that win and although he remembers it for what it can teach the current crop, he has tempered his recollection with realism, which suggests he knows where the real talent show is.

"It was a good match for us. It was an overall team effort. Going forward, we need more team effort, being more consistent and having that self-belief - knowing we can give South Africa a fight. Seven years ago, we had a result against them but that was seven years ago. They are the No. 1 team in the world."