West Indies have cause to worry

After leading Guyana to three consecutive victories on their way to the Red Stripe Bowl semifinal last week, Carl Hooper was moved to bemoan the general standard of the cricket. Nothing he saw in the two semifinals at Kaiser Sports Club in Jamaica on Thursday and Friday would have relieved his worries as he considers the players likely to form the West Indies team for the World Cup in South Africa that is only a year-and-a-half away. As derided as it is by the traditionalists, the One-Day game demands as much cricketing intelligence and astuteness as the more protracted version.

Because, and not in spite, of all its limitations, its situations change fast and frequently, testing the wits of captains and players. There is no second innings so there is no coming back.

One poor shot, one wide ball, one fumble, one missed chance, one poorly set fielder could mean the match. Test cricket is not nearly as unforgiving of mistakes.

And mistakes there were on Thursday and Friday by the dozens.

What would have concerned Hooper especially was that among the most culpable were those he is likely to lead onto the field at the Newlands ground in Cape Town for the World Cup opener against South Africa in February, 2003. Here are but a few examples.

In the first semifinal, on a pitch so damp that Michael Holding's fingernail made a sizeable scratch on the surface, a couple of deliveries leapt at Leon Garrick in the first over to strike glove and body.

This was a time for care and concentration. Instead, Chris Gayle, the West Indies' finest young batsman and, on all evidence, one whose appetite for big scores in insatiable, tried to hoist Reon King out of the ground with the fifth ball he received. The resulting skied catch to point was predictable and damning.

Gayle's previous two innings in the tournament had brought him hundreds and the two before that in domestic county cricket in Jamaica two more. Perhaps he was undone by overconfidence.It was a crucial mistake.

Another 27 overs on, with Jamaica battling to rebuild a faltering innings, Marlon Samuels, another rising young batsman, bowed to the pressure of eeking out 15 runs from 57 balls. Pulling wildly across the modest leg-spin on Sewnarine Chattergoon, he was bowled, leaving captain Robert Samuels and the tail to salvage what they could from the shambles for 75 for five.

Shabby Guyanese bowling and fielding and purposeful batting by the experienced Samuels and the fluent Gareth Breese yielded 107 from the last 15 overs and raised Jamaica's total to 191 for nine, still only modest but far more than had seemed possible.

At 134 for five after 40 overs in reply, Guyana had the match in hand before Mahendra Nagamootoo, a usually sensible cricketer with both Tests and One-Day Internationals on his record, chose the game's most contorted stroke as his best option. He was inevitably bowled when he missed his reverse sweep.

At the other end, his brother, Vishal, backed up so far he was run out without receiving a ball, another victim of cricketing lunacy.

Onto the second semifinal the next day and there was more madness, this time on the Trinidad and Tobago side. Their major batsmen simply failed to acknowledge an earlier lesson in proper tactical batting by Floyd Reifer and Ryan Hinds, who breathed life back into a Barbados innings that was all but lifeless.

By sensible, orthodox methods, Reifer and Hinds gradually lifted Barbados' spirits and punched increasingly large holes in the Trinidadian balloon.

There was no panic, no cross-batted swings, no desperate methods, just methodical progress to a point from which the tempo could be increased and a challenging target set.

A pitch of uneven bounce and variable pace meant driving through the line was a hazard to be avoided. The 220 required would have to be reached by careful, orthodox batting. So what happened?

Andy Action Jackson, so named after his earlier hundred off 47 balls against the North Windwards, Brian Lara and Daren Ganga all drove expansively and into the hands of off-side fielders. Lincoln Roberts, pinned down for 32 balls for six, swiped a high catch to long-on.

It was the kind of cricket that had plenty of heads around Kaiser shaking in despair. Hooper's and the other heads planning the West Indies World Cup campaign are likely to turn grey if it continues much longer.