Postcard (16 March 1999)

16 March 1999

Postcard

from Justin Langer

Day four, second Test: Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica

You could never have guessed the outcome of this second Test in Jamaica. After the first Test, the turnaround in results has been an absolute 360-degree shift in fortunes.

From this side of the world it wasn't only the result in the first Test that makes today even more astounding. Only a week ago, West Indian cricket seemed to be in a horrible state of affairs.

Brian Lara was reportedly playing his last Test as captain, the fast bowlers were apparently too old and ready to be put out to pasture, and the administration couldn't even get their team right for this Test. From the outside it almost felt as though an invincible Goliath was taking on a David who had lost his courage.

Maybe that is what went wrong for us in the last few days. Maybe, just maybe, we forgot for a moment that David is very proud and that he has a lot more courage than we ever bargained for. Why do you think the David and Goliath fable is so well known?!

It just goes to show that you can never take this game for granted. It has a knack of slapping you on the backside as soon as you think that you have it conquered. Even though we trained harder than we have for a long time before the Test, perhaps we mentally let it slip a little and relaxed just a fraction. When you are competing against a team that hosts three truly great players you cannot afford the luxury of relaxing, even if it is for just a fraction of time.

Uncoincidentally it was the three great West Indian players who really made a mark on the game. Of course, Brian Lara's innings set up the match but it was the intense pressure applied by Courtney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose that made the difference in this game. In the first innings Walsh meant business. He had that look in his eyes, a look that would make you think we had just abused his mother. He was fired up and not going to let this Australian cricket team make a mockery of his nation's proud cricket history.

In the second innings Curtley found about five yards of pace on what he had been bowling in the series. History shows that you should never give the West Indian fast bowlers a hint of victory or they will take you down. This, they did here. Although it was the off-spinner Perry who claimed the majority of the wickets in the second dig, I can promise you that it was the pressure being applied for the other end that made the difference.

We have learned an important lesson from this Test. We know that nothing can be taken for granted in Test cricket, especially against the West Indies. We also know that the series is now going to be a very tough one. The team is determined to make amends for the last two days, and through more hard work and a strengthening of our resolve, I am sure we can turn around the last two days fiasco.

Sitting in the Sabina Park changeroom after the game I can tell you the feeling of losing is far less enjoyable that that of winning. With this in mind we will set about turning it all around in the lead up to the third Test in Barbados. We haven't lost sight of the fact that we have played great cricket up until the last two days, and after some soul-searching, it will be back to doing what we do best and that is winning the tough sessions and doing all the basics well.

If David thought that his victory means the war is over he, or they, had better think again.

From Jamaica, JL