Living in hope

"But how allyuh could advantage the people so?" The query on Wednesday night from someone who really isn't a fan of West Indies was intended to be provocative and I was only too happy to take the bait.

"When you have a side to mash up, you mash them up!" I responded. "These days we take what we could get, and by the way, how come nobody does feel sorry for we when we getting licks all over the place?" It was like an early goal silencing a hostile crowd.

It is only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, but it's good to revel in performances that emphasise the gap between the Champions Trophy holders and, believe it or not, the two teams immediately behind them in the international rankings. Those one-sided matches on Sunday and Wednesday were really just a tune-up for the real business of defending the title, and the Caribbean side will have to be firing on all cylinders tomorrow because Sri Lanka, who also brushed aside the same two opponents in the qualifying phase, are equally as keen to emphasise that they must by no means be considered among the ranks of the underdogs in India just because they had to play preliminary matches.

Both sides are assured of places in the main tournament, which begins on Sunday with the hosts taking on England. However, there are several reasons why this encounter in Mumbai will be fought with the intensity befitting the final itself in three weeks' time. For the victors will be placed in the group comprising South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand, while the losers move into the pool for which favourites Australia, India and 2004 beaten finalists England were already drawn into.

In other words, there is no easy group and finishing in the top two to earn a place in the semi-finals will involve considerably more intense competition than in any of the opening round groups of next year's World Cup. For the team that would be on a roll with three consecutive wins after tomorrow's encounter, Group A offers the chance to maintain that momentum as their three matches against the Pakistanis, New Zealanders and South Africans (in that order) will all be played in an eight-day period beginning next Tuesday.

In contrast, the losers will take on the might of the Aussies next Wednesday and are not in competitive action again until October 26, when they take on the Indians, before rounding out the schedule against England two days later. More than that, especially for a team so inconsistent as West Indies, maintaining a winning momentum is almost essential to the quest to retain the title that was won so memorably at The Oval in London 25 months ago.

Lara has restated the point (he really didn't need to after what happened in his team's last preliminary match of the DLF Cup in Malaysia) that there will be no fooling around against the Sri Lankans. The only concern, it seems, revolves around the health of the players. On a personal level, success tomorrow will present an opportunity to put New Zealand in their place next Friday. The Black Caps are a well-drilled, disciplined unit led by one of the finest captains in contemporary cricket, Stephen Fleming. But even if the players aren't too concerned about it, some of the comments that West Indies endured on the tour of New Zealand earlier this year bordered on insulting and demeaning.

From writers sounding the death knell of West Indies cricket to allrounder Scott Styris accusing the visitors of a lack of compassion when New Zealand batsmen were hit by short-pitched deliveries, you would have thought that the game was only now being mastered in the island territories.

Almost everyone, not just in New Zealand, have had their chance to bemoan the decline of West Indies cricket on the global stage while also offering their own solutions, although, by their utterings, it is clear that very few understand the complexities of this place we call home. Such sanctimonious sermonising really rankles with those who experienced the days of near-invincibility by the West Indian juggernaut, yet were never so presumptuous as to pass judgement or prescribe solutions to the teams that they were hammering into submission.

I suppose it is a matter of different attitudes: one conditioned by historical experiences and self-appointed privileges to determine what is good and bad or right and wrong about the other. One day, boy, one day. It may not be at this Champions' Trophy or the World Cup next year or for another 10-15 years still, but one day those global pundits will regret ever directing their condescending tone towards the West Indies and wish for the return of the days when the visit of the Caribbean cricketers was an eagerly awaited opportunity to beat-up on a fallen giant.

In the meantime, we will live in hope, not so much for the turnaround (that is still a long, long way off, especially in Tests) but for the reawakening of the consciousness and awareness of all who wear the burgundy cap of their responsibilities as representatives of their people on the world stage. Then again, maybe the turnaround has begun, at least off the field.

"I always know you was the blight on the fellas," my verbal combatant shot back. "The longer you stay here, the better their chances out there!" Final score: 1-1.