Conditions will not change much. Attitudes must

If I were living in olden times, I might have been burnt at the stake for being a Soothsayer. Perhaps some of the present West Indian players would like to effect that conflagration anyway, just for the fact, not fiction, mind you, that I have been pointing out their underachievement so far on this cricket tour.

Remember, too, that I had predicted, even before the competition started, that England should win the Nat-West International One-Day Trophy. Believe me, it was not really that difficult to do that. However, even I was embarrassed at some of the play of the West Indians, while similarly, I was quite surprised at some of the patchy excellence of the Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe are a very well schooled, and more importantly, a team not only wanting to learn, but one that is actually learning what international cricket is all about as it continues in its history. England, though, easily had the most cohesive unit of the three teams, hence their victory at Lord's last Saturday. Could it be that they like winning at Lord's? What about Old Trafford, then?

Now, it is back to the real business of Test cricket. The West Indies have about a week to put things into proper perspective and to rally around themselves, without asking anyone else to rally around them. With the injuries and worries that they have, that might not be long enough, but they cannot now stop the clock. At least Courtney Walsh is back to as near total fitness as he will ever become in his professional cricket life again. Already, he has sparked against Yorkshire. That, fortunately for the West Indies, is good news, even if it is something of a foregone conclusion. Walsh is always ready! Unfortunately for him, the batsmen do not seem to be in the same frame of performance.

Similarly, Curtly Ambrose will be ready when the time comes. Both he and Walsh effectively sat out the one-day series and that rest would have done them both a world of good. Ambrose had the advantage, if it can be called that, of going back to the West Indies to "chill out" in the heat of the Antiguan beaches. The only down side of that was that he had to endure about fourteen hours of flying, in total, to go home and then return. Walsh, on the other hand, may have had a bit of another advantage, since he never left England, so he is already in the cold mode. Ambrose, though, like Walsh, is also always ready for the fight!

Yet, they are not the worry. The worry is simply this. How much longer are we to wait for the younger, back-up bowlers, to properly come to the fore? How soon will it be when every West Indian supporter could say, with justified confidence, and not just with blow-hard useless stupid noise, that maybe Reon King, Franklyn Rose or Nixon McLean would pull the West Indies through? These days, even into their twilight, Ambrose and Walsh are still the ones always looked at for the answers, the resolutions. As the Americans will say, "You can actually go to the well too often!"

While they have been doing so for about twelve years as a pair, give or take a few Tests or even a few series, the time is fast approaching when neither will be playing. It may not be this year, or even the next, but very soon, in the run of time, maybe at the most three years from now, both will not be playing internationally at all. Are the others ready now, or will they ever be ready, to fill those large shoes? Only time, the coaches and Rose, King and McLean themselves can answer that now. For me, they certainly are not ready now. They will have to do infinitely better at every facet of their game to be in the same thought, much less the same league, as Ambrose and Walsh. Corey Collymore has an even longer trip to make. Right now, he is not even a fast bowler. The experiment that he has been simply has not worked.

I will also predict something else. Notwithstanding the fact that I had already predicted that the West Indies will win this series 3-1, a prediction that is still possible, I will say this. The team which wins at Old Trafford in Test 3 will win the series. While Test 2 at Lords saw a great come-back from England, neither team will bounce back when it will have lost Test 3. Obviously, for the West Indies to win the series, it goes without saying that they must win at Old Trafford.

Also, another point to make here is that I do not think that either team is good enough to draw a game, given five full available days of cricket per Test. To be able to draw a game, a team has to be able to bowl its opposition out twice, quickly, which has been seen to be done by both England and the West Indies so far. No problem there. However, additionally, one team, if in trouble, has to be able to bat for at least six sessions, perhaps more (that is at least one and a half days) to save a game. With their present form, fitness, present abilities and everything else thrown in, neither England nor the West Indies have the ability to achieve that now. Hence my pronouncement. If the weather holds, all of these Test matches will end in either defeats or victories, and perhaps much inside five days too!

England, surprisingly, have shown their hand rather early, actually. Marcus Trescothick and Graeme Thorpe make their first appearances, while Nasser Hussein comes back to take over a rejuvenated team, thanks to stand-in captain Alec Stewart. The three "new" faces, from the 2nd Test, are not altogether surprises. Once Hussein was fit, he certainly must play, as he is the captain, even though his form recently has been poor. Thorpe, conversely, for England, is like Brian Lara in the West Indies cricket team. Even with his form poor and his appearances few in the recent past, Thorpe simply must be selected whenever he is available, as his batsmanship stands way above most in England.

There certainly are not six batsmen in England who are better. Trescothick, on the other hand, has shown that he belongs in the big leagues. How he copes with the West Indies four fast bowlers when there is no marked circle in the outfield, or when the game is five days, not five hours, could be something very different for him. Most, however, think that he has the goods. With Mike Atherton obviously retained, Graeme Hick given another chance, and the ebullient Stewart "getting younger" with every new innings, England have six batmen who could do the business at Test level.

Darren Gough, Andy Caddick and Dominic Cork have shown very recently that they deserve their places as very good fast bowlers, either singly or as a collective unit. If they get help from fast bowling all-rounder Craig White, who has also shown to be improving, especially during the one-day series, or from Robert Croft, the somewhat ordinary off-spinner, is left to be seen. That fast bowling combination of three, though, is special, and they produce well.

It would be interesting to have a cumulative look at the respective mind sets of both teams now as the series gets into its second half. England are confident, perhaps rightly so, since they have won that one-day competition, but more particularly, won the 2nd Test convincingly after failing badly in the 1st. The West Indies, on the other hand, not only lost the 2nd Test match badly, after winning the 1st handsomely, but also lost all but one of the games in the one-day competition which England won.

The comparison of the psychological profiles now could tell many tales. Yet, cricket is played as much in the mind as on the field of play, so it will be the tougher team, come Old Trafford, who would come out winners. Theories and thoughts are fine. The deeds, putting theories and thoughts on to the field of play, are what would be important. It simply will be left to the team having a cumulative successful trio of thought, word and deed who will win out in the end.

The West Indian batsmen, Sherwin Campbell, Adrian Griffith, Wavell Hinds, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (if fit, or Ramnaresh Sarwan, if Shiv is unfit), Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams and even Ridley Jacobs, who seem to be getting back some semblance of batsmanship, would have to be very vigilant, and more particularly, must be patient.

Old Trafford also offers some assistance to England, as they won there in 1995, Cork performing the hat-trick to top things off. Overcast conditions almost always prevail, and Cork, especially, likes to bowl there, as he does, and did, at Lords. If conditions become sunny, then the West Indies could have some advantages turned their way, but the most important attitude now to have, from a West Indian point of view, is to "want to win" more than anything else. Determination sometimes, most times even, overcomes deficiencies. So let it be with Jimmy Adams and his charges!!