Time for change in direction (28 December 1998)

28 December 1998

Time for change in direction

By Tony Becca

DURBAN: The Test series between the West Indies and South Africa is just about at the halfway mark and already the home team, two-nil up and looking to win the third, has a strangle-hold on the series.

As any cricket fan will agree, although it appears all over for the West Indies, it is, at least not up to yesterday, not yet impossible and it could happen.

So far, however, the West Indies are being taught a lesson. They have been outplayed in every department of the game - including batting where although, like the West Indies, their top order has been disappointing, their lower order has served them well.

Looking at South Africa's top order batsmen, not one of them can even be considered among the world's best. Unlike Brian Lara, however, who was once rated as the world's best, and who, despite his drought of big innings, is still in the company of Sachin Tendulkar, and unlike Carl Hooper, who is loved by many who rank him among the best, but for a few occasions, they have not slit their own throats by careless strokes.

The big difference, however, is in the bowling and the fielding departments.

Ambrose and Walsh apart, and in spite of Franklyn Rose's brilliance yesterday, the West Indies attack is generally average as their support pace bowlers hardly swing the ball and the slow bowlers hardly spin it - a reason, probably, why they are having so many problems in South Africa and why so many of them have been bowled off the inside edge of their bats.

In contrast to the West Indians, the South African pacers - Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and David Terbrugge, plus Lance Klusener - all swing the ball, and their slow bowlers - offspinner Pat Symcox and leftarm spinner Paul Adams - spin it.

In the field, there is no comparison. South Africa are superior - so much so that if one should select a fielding team from both sides only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Stuart Williams, and possible Hooper in the slips, from the West Indies would make it.

What is really disturbing about the present situation is not so much the dominance of South Africa in this series, but the possibility that if things continue as they are, that will be the case in other series to come.

In South Africa, for example, there is a development programme all over the country - in almost every town and every village and that is why, unlike in the West Indies, all their fast bowlers bowl a good line and length, all their young fast bowlers can swing the ball as well as cut it off the seam, why they use the crease so well, and why, as a surprise, every now and then they slip in a slower delivery.

That is also why, unlike in the West Indies where so many teams at all levels have to hide fielders, and as demonstrated in the national limited-over competition which is now in progress, all the fielders in first grade cricket in South Africa are good and so many, like Jonty Rhodes, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince and Shafiek Abrahams, so brilliant.

To many West Indians, including those now under pressure in South Africa, coaching is for the birds, but while no one would like the type of coaching which would destroy the natural flair of West Indies cricket, something needs to be done to life the level of skills in West Indies cricket.

As talented as they may be - and there are no many around these days, the batsmen, many of whom believe they are better than they really are and therefore try to play strokes they cannot, need to be disciplined. The West Indies batsmen of today, as exciting as they can be, need to know when to do what - which balls to leave, which balls to defend against, which balls to hit, and based on the condition of the pitch, the quality of the bowlers, and the state of the game, when not lock away risky strokes.

Even if the batsmen need to be handled with kids gloves in order to ensure that young batsmen with the exceptional talent of champions like Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Collie Smith, Seymour Nurse, Lawrence Rowe, Alvin Kallicharran, Viv Richards, Jeffrey Dujon and Brian Lara are not coached to the point where they become strokeless wonders, not so the bowlers and the fielders.

The West Indies need to develop pace bowlers who can bowl consistently on a length, who can swing the ball, who understand the benefit of using the crease in order to change the line of attack, and who can vary their pace in an effort to upset the batsman's rhythm. They also need slow bowlers of different types - right arm offspin, right-arm legspin and googly, left-arm orthodox, and left-arm back-of-the-hand - who can do most of that and also spin the ball.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)