King blames domestic structures

Bennett King, the West Indies coach, has blamed inherent weaknesses in the domestic structure for the team's poor results in the international arena. West Indies, once invincible on home soil, have performed abysmally at home in recent times, thumped by England last year, and easily beaten by South Africa in two of three Tests so far this season.

Addressing the media before the final Test in Antigua, King said: "I believe one of the main problems with the West Indies at the moment is the gap between regional cricket and international cricket. They are trying their best but if you go and watch regional cricket closely the lines that they bowl aren't conducive to taking wickets at international level."

King insisted that a failure to adequately pressure opposition batsmen had been the root cause of insipid bowling displays. "We've talked with all the coaches and to a man they have been supportive of the approach that we are trying to put forward," he said. "That means all our bowlers, including spinners, bowling attacking rather than defensive lines. We need to put pressure on opposing sides."

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the captain, stressed that the West Indies would have to improve all aspects of their play to be competitive against a South African side that has played some superb cricket since escaping with a draw in Guyana. "We are going into the match in a positive frame of mind and we're looking for a win," said Chanderpaul. "We've been trying hard, we've had meetings where everybody has contributed. That makes my job easier, and I'm happy with that. But I'm not happy with our results."