Expect the worst with the Windies

It should hurt deeply, but it doesn't. Why? Because the lessons of the last ten years have conditioned many followers of West Indies cricket to hope for the best, yet expect the worst. Some will insist that for the West Indies side to lose nine wickets for 29 runs and turn a comfortable winning position against Australia into a 78-run defeat as they did yesterday in Kuala Lumpur is really the lowest.

That they could get away with delivering an unprofessionally high number of wides, enjoy a few generous slices of luck in pursuit of a target of 280, and still manage to squander the perfect platform of 172 for 1 in just the 24th over represents a capitulation that will prompt all sorts of heated overreaction around the territories, at least until the next match against India.

That's the way it is with us: prematurely heralding the long-awaited turnaround after defeating the Indians 4-1 at home three months ago, now launching scathing attacks and suggesting that with this pathetic effort they have dipped below the standards of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

You want to know real pain of the sporting variety? Try the five-run loss to the same Australians in the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup in Mohali, that after Mark Taylor's side had been reduced to 15 for 4 batting first, while the West Indies were cruising into the final ten overs of the match needing 48 runs with eight wickets in hand.

I saw recently that Curtly Ambrose described the experience as one he will never get over. He is not alone. For anguish of considerably more recent vintage, how about the first Test against New Zealand in Auckland in March of this year?

The home side can go on and on as much as they want about how the changed ball made all the difference in the match, but nothing will ever convince me that, from 148 without loss chasing 292, it was the West Indies who contrived to lose by 26 runs and not the New Zealanders who pulled it off by dint of their determination and never-say-die spirit.

Compared to those two occasions, yesterday's latest remake of "Calypso Collapso" was just another example of the regional side embarrassing themselves. The DLF Cup is just another money-making one-day tournament crammed into an already packed international schedule to milk even more money from an Asian market that just cannot get enough of the shorter version of the game on their television screens. Win, lose or tie, the West Indies will emerge US$2 million richer after the four preliminary matches, with another US$1 million if they manage to make it into the final.

Even if the collapse under the lights at the Kinrara Oval was a rather extreme example of what we have grown uncomfortably accustomed to, the fact is that, more often than not, contemporary West Indies teams invariably fold under concerted pressure on foreign fields. If anything, the two-wicket victory over England in the Champions Trophy final at The Oval two years ago is the notable exception that proves the rule.

No one needs to be reminded that losing, like winning, becomes a habit, and when it happens often enough, it tends to become almost a self-fulfilling prophecy in tight situations. The look on the players' faces who were yet to bat after the dismissals of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara in quick succession was almost a premonition of defeat, and the complete absence of any resistance thereafter confirmed that they were beaten long before the slide was in full swing.

All is not lost, though, for useful fragments can always be found in the midst of a smouldering rubble. Chanderpaul's blazing 93 and a 136-run opening stand with Chris Gayle should settle the former captain at the top of the order in the countdown to the World Cup.

The bowlers surely will not combine for 18 wides in a single 50-over innings for the rest of the tour, so at least that's out of their system. At least I hope so.

Ramnaresh Sarwan complained the day before the match about still feeling jet-lagged after the long journey to the Malaysian capital. So maybe that explains yesterday's performance. Whatever the reason or the excuse, it's not the end of the world or the end of our chances in the Champions Trophy or World Cup.

And, of course, there is always the prospect of an instant turnaround tomorrow. That's one-day cricket for you.