London: It seems like eons ago since Lord's 100th Test left all who
watched it spellbound and eager for more.
They have had to wait for more than a month, since then the euphoria
that followed England's epic victory has dissolved and the sports
pages here have been filled, instead, with the magnitude of Tiger
Woods' golfing superiority, Luis Figo's transfer fee and Andy
Flintoff's waistline.
In the interim, England have maintained their momentum with their
efficient triumph in the One-Day NatWest Series, lack-lustre as the
tournament was while the West Indies, beaten three times by Zimbabwe
and eliminated even before their last-over consolation win over
England, have failed to regroup after their Lord's setback.
While Nasser Hussain, back at the helm after his broken thumb, now
talks excitedly about his team being 'a pleasure to lead', Jimmy Adams
reluctantly, but realistically, bemoans the inconsistency that has
been the bane of West Indies cricket for some time.
It was again in stark evidence in the first two Tests and throughout
the One-Day Internationals 397 in the first Test and victory by an
innings within three days, all out 54 in the second and a lead of 133
transformed into defeat; unable to defend 288 against Zimbabwe one
match, beating England with 195 the next.
Such erratic performances have become commonplace. It reflects a lack
of concentration, 'focus' is the modern sporting jargon, and no
captain can properly plan unless it's corrected.
As Adams pointed out last week, there are times when a team will
perform consistently in all departments of the game and still lose.
That can be tolerated. What can't is when they are consistently
inconsistent in batting, bowling and fielding, as was the case
throughout the One-Day series.
Before the Cornhill Insurance series resumes at Old Trafford on
Thursday morning, locked 1-1 with three Tests remaining, Adams will
again stress that point.
He will also emphasise to his younger players that they cannot
continue shielding behind the older hands and behind such excuses as
the cold weather and the conditions.
The statistics are damning.
In the first two Tests, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, with their
combined ages of 73, had 151.5 overs between them and claimed 18
wickets at 14 runs each and at under two runs an over. In contrast,
Reon King and Franklyn Rose shared 10 wickets at over 30 each and
around three-and-a-half an over.
At Lord's, Adams took the blame for persisting too long with the
errant Rose during the tense closing stages when Dominic Cork went
after him. If he becomes reluctant to use anyone but his two veterans,
it won't be surprising but it paints a gloomy picture for the future.
Of the batsmen, Adrian Griffith, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan and
Chris Gayle are on their first tours of England. They were already
Test cricketers on arrival. Hinds' brilliant 169 against the powerful
Pakistan attack at Kensington in May and Sarwan's widely praised,
unbeaten 86 on debut in the same match were causes for optimism.
This was the opportunity for them to make their mark. To date, Sarwan
and Griffith average 26 and Gayle 22 in first-class matches. Only
Hinds, the tall, 23-year-old Jamaican, has made any sort of show among
the young brigade, averging in the high 40s.
Last week's match against a shamefully diminished Yorkshire team
typified the problem. The county had folded to 126 all out. Their one
first team bowler, Ian Hutchison, broke down in his seventh over. It
was the chance to cash in.
The West Indies will be buoyed by the return of Ambrose although,
judging from his first outing back at Leicester on Friday, his monthlong rest and recreation in Antigua seems to have left him a little
rusty.
The remarkable Courtney Walsh also missed the triangular tournament to
rest a sore instep but picked up where he left off at Lord's with a
five-wicket haul in his first match back, albeit against weakened
Yorkshire.
In their absence, the backup fast bowlers fell down on the job, as
they did on the tense final day at Lord's when Rose and King conceded
half England's winning runs off 20 overs fewer and for six wickets
less than Ambrose and Walsh.
In the One-Day series, they were left on their own but were wayward in
length and line, unable to exert the control necessary. Adams saw it
as a salutary lesson.
'It gave everybody, not only the bowlers but the whole team, a taste
of the fact that, in the near future, we will have to do without Ambi
and Courtney,' he said. 'That was very important in the context of
where we're hoping to get to in the next few years.'
It remains a fair assumption that the West Indies hopes of recording
their first win in an overseas series since 1995 still hinges on three
men Ambrose, Walsh and Brian Lara.
As it is, Lara is still carrying a tight right hamstring and would not
have batted for two weeks. Yet, justifiably, he is the standard-bearer
for the batting.
In the coming days, Adams will repeatedly stress what was achieved
without Lara against Zimbabwe and Pakistan at home and remind Rose and
King of the valuable parts they played in those victories.
The lesson is that cricket remains a team game and even the greatest
players cannot win matches on their own.