Best of Strokes: Whitewash looms large for Windies

Once again this season of joy and cheers is ruined by the performances of our West Indian team playing in Australia.

Perhaps the boys are too homesick to apply themselves to the task in front of them.

But even when they are not physically fit, like Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kerry Jeremy, the selectors refuse to make the appropriate decision-give them a rest from the torture of this devastating tour of Australia.

As was the case in England, Chanderpaul is now being sent home after wasting time Down Under and keeping another fit player out of the squad that is badly in need of help.

Why are we taking so long to realise that we cannot build a better future in Test cricket based on hope alone.

The problem is simple, we are not taking the right decision, and when we come close to getting it right, we are often too late.

Some people have argued that teenager Marlon Samuels could have been on the tour from the beginning, yet given the circumstances, Ricardo Powell might have been the better choice as a late replacement for Chanderpaul.

The team seems entirely dependent upon Brain Lara's batting, but that will only prolong the agony of defeat-from three days to four, or possibly an early fifth day.

The least one could have expected was a drawn match in the last Test at Adelaide, and our failure to achieve that, now means that we could be staring a 5-0 drubbing in the face.

There appears to be no reprieve for the poor souls on tour who are playing as if they would rather be home for the Christmas season. The captain, Jimmy Adams, is playing the game true to his own nature-no command, no tactics, no aggression, little wisdom.

Captains are often required to make a difference in most circumstances, but Adams is struggling to find his own niché at the international level.

The question now is what can the West Indies do to avert the obvious whitewash that looms on the horizon. Apart from hoping for the better, there is little else the Caribbean people can do.

The mental toughness, technical skills and captaincy are ingredients which are simply not present in Australia, to the extent where the opponents are literally experimenting, perhaps in the hope that we would at least look competitive.

We just didn't respond, and the criticism will continue unless the West Indian people are prepared to accept that we do not have the talent, tactics or leadership in our cricketing institution to be effective and competitive on the world stage. What will the New Year bring for our beloved sport? Will the Busta Cup produce any hopeful stars for the South African series?

Many of the young players should feel they have an excellent chance of making the West Indies squad in the not too distant future; hence the regional first class season should be a good one to watch.

Happy New Year, and let us all hope for the very best in the months to come, cricket-wise and otherwise.