West Indies think-tank face an uphill task

A lot has been said by key personnel involved in this West Indies tour of England. However the real significance of their comments prior to the squad's departure last Tuesday lies between the lines.

When Mike Findlay, the manager, chooses to emphasise that an insistence on proper conduct is a significant aspect of his role, and that no indiscipline will be tolerated during the next two months on the road, it is a tacit admission that the generally lamentable attitude of contemporary Caribbean cricketers had sunk to a new low during the ultimately disastrous World Cup campaign.

When new coach David Moore stresses the need for players to appreciate the value of fitness and proper overall preparation, he is in fact confessing that, at least for much of his tenure as assistant coach to fellow Australian Bennett King over the past two-and-a-half years, the essential work ethic was nothing short of deplorable. Additionally, Moore's praise of the work of regional colleagues, when questioned about any aspirations of continuing as West Indies coach beyond the England tour, suggests that he senses the tide at the decision-making level has shifted from employing a foreigner.

It is a shift that could be reinforced in the coming weeks, although he will probably argue, as Roger Harper and Gus Logie - his counterparts on the last two visits to England - did, that as vital as his function is, it is still only one aspect of a system that deteriorated before our eyes over the past 10 years or so.

Harper at least savoured a Test victory, by an innings and 93 runs inside three days at Edgbaston, to get the five-match series in 2000 off to a dream start. Logie, in contrast, had the misfortune of being in charge (that terminology could be hotly debated, given what prevailed during the tour) of the squad in 2004 that was whitewashed in the four-match series, although there was considerable consolation in the Champions Trophy triumph four weeks later before coaching responsibilities were passed on to King and company.

That first Test in Birmingham seven years ago remains a significant landmark in the almost uninterrupted slide since then, for it is the last time that the West Indies won a Test away from home against an opponent other than Zimbabwe or Bangladesh.

Then, Jimmy Adams's team had three first-class matches leading up to the series opener. In 2004, with Brian Lara at the helm, they reached the final of a tri-nation limited-overs tournament involving the hosts and New Zealand, and then played two first-class fixtures ahead of the first Test at Lord's. Now, they have a solitary three-day match against Somerset leading into next Thursday's start of the four-Test series.

Of course, with the World Cup having dragged on for almost two months, all international teams are in the same boat. The difference is that West Indies and England are the first to get back into the longer version of the game, and while the members of the home team would have played at least a couple of matches for their respective counties ahead of the Lord's opener, the tourists will be trying to cram all the preparation they can manage into the next three days.

The County Ground at Taunton holds a special place in the hearts of older West Indian fans, for it was there that Viv Richards and Joel Garner played their county cricket for more than a decade until an acrimonious departure in 1986. So it is inevitable that when the diehard fans of Somerset gather on the opening day tomorrow at their favourite venue to see the current crop of West Indians taking on the home boys, there will be more than a little reminiscing about the day "Smokin' Joe" hit so-and-so out of the ground, or the time when "Big Bird" mowed down so many top-class players in a single spell.

Given their genuine admiration for Caribbean cricket, they would certainly like to forget the performance of the last West Indies team that came to Taunton. That was near the end of the 2000 tour, a week after the unbelievably humiliating two-day defeat in the fourth Test at Headingley.

The 269-run loss to a Somerset team that won just two first-class matches all season was almost as dispiriting, and preceded a 158-run defeat in the final Test at The Oval that gave England the series 3-1 and a first hold on the Wisden Trophy since 1969.

The only familiar face tomorrow among the tourists, for those who were at The County Ground seven years ago, will be Chris Gayle (Ramnaresh Sarwan had flown home for a friend's funeral). Gayle was dropped from the Test side after scoring zero in the only innings at Edgbaston and did nothing against Somerset to merit a recall for the series finale. He is remembered, however, for summoning veteran fast bowler Curtly Ambrose from the pavilion, on an overcast day, to bring out his sunglasses, which he promptly placed on top of his head. It didn't take much perception to recognise then that Gayle, like so many others in the squad, had effectively switched off.

If Findlay, Moore, Sarwan and whoever else can get Gayle to focus on batting instead of fashion tomorrow, they will be able to take credit for at least one minor achievement on what is going to be a very difficult tour.