WI prepare for walk on the wild side

With the world's highest bungee jump - 216 m at the Bloukrans bridge - the world's oldest and largest ultra-marathon - the 90 km Comrades race - and the world's toughest canoe race - the Dusi - South Africa can be a pretty wild place for sportsmen. Even cricketers.

Graeme Smith used to call it the most difficult place to the open the batting and there are a slew of top-order batsmen who are testament to that. Mark Taylor couldn't help but nick off in 1996-97, Michael Vaughan was done for pace in 1999-00 and Virender Sehwag was susceptible to the short ball in 2010-11. None of that will offer any comfort to West Indies, who have identified batting as their biggest concern in the upcoming series.

"Our batting hasn't been up to scratch in the last couple of years," Denesh Ramdin, their captain said on the eve of the Centurion Test. "It's important that myself, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, all the senior guys put up our hands and that the younger guys can learn as they go along."

In their last 10 Tests, West Indies have managed scores of over 250 in only nine out of 20 innings. Three of those were against Bangladesh at home, four against New Zealand at home and remaining two, including their highest of 507, in New Zealand. The only top-six team they played in that time was India and they scored fewer than 200 in three out of four innings.

Ramdin is among their top run-scorers in that period and the list also includes Darren Bravo, who made a double-hundred in Dunedin and a century in Port of Spain against New Zealand, Chris Gayle, who made three fifties in his last four Tests, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has slowly been encroaching on Brian Lara's record, and Kraigg Brathwaite, who has 541 runs from his last four Tests at an average of 90.17. Two of those five are not on this tour.

Gayle withdrew with a back injury and Bravo pulled out for personal reasons which has left Chanderpaul and Brathwaite to act as the mainstays in a line-up that includes in-form Marlon Samuels and Devon Smith and a determined Ramdin. "I am going to relish the opportunity as a captain to lead from the front," he said. "I've done well in the last 18 months or so, so I'd like to continue that. If every one plays, I will try to hold it all together and put in some good partnerships."

Although Ramdin did not have a successful last visit to South Africa - he averaged 18.16 from six innings and only once scored more than 30 - his form has enjoyed an upward curve in the last year. In the last 20 innings, Ramdin has averaged 31.85, more than his overall figure of 27.17, he has scored a century, a fifty and four scores in the 30s and 40s. For a No.7, those are decent contributions.

West Indies, as an outfit, have dipped far below their glory days and the rebuilding process has not been promising. Ramdin wants that to change, starting in South Africa, a series which he hopes to use as a new beginning after the squad abandoned their visit to India. "Its important for us to forget about that and move on to the future," he said. "We are going to put that behind us and take it one step at a time and do our best."

From a batting perspective, that means digging in and displaying the temperament required of Test cricketers in an environment that is known to be difficult. "It's important that we play consistent cricket," Ramdin said. But for the bowlers, it is a licence to take a walk on the wild side and Ramdin predicts left-armer Sheldon Cottrell will be the man to take advantage of that against a South African top-order whose only real struggles have come against southpaws.

"At some point he will be a surprise package," Ramdin said. "If we look at the Australia series, Mitchell Johnson had success against South Africa. If Sheldon is in the team, I'm sure he will do something special for us."