Hooper By Charmaine Austin,
Staff Reporter
WEST Indies captain Carl Hooper is a happy man following yesterday's morale-boosting 130-run win over South Africa in the fifth and final Cable & Wireless Test at Sabina Park.
"It didn't turn out too badly at all. We didn't win the series, but we managed to win a game and that's good enough. My only regret is that I had to start my job as captain on a bad note earlier on, but we have more assignments ahead and we're focussed on trying to get better results in them," Hooper said after the game.
In the upcoming one-day series Hooper expects the West Indies to carry over their good form.
"We did well in this last game and that itself will help to boost the morale of the players," he said.
With regards to the recent retirement of Courtney Walsh and the effect this will have on the team, Hooper said:
"We're happy that Courtney was able to help us thus far, but he has made a decision, we respect that and wish him the very best.
"This is an opportunity for the other bowlers to step up to the challenge and give a good account of themselves. What I'm particularly pleased with about this Test is the amount of youth talent we currently have. I encourage and support this and I'm confident that these youngsters will do their best in the upcoming series," Hooper said.
South African captain Shaun Pollock said they were pleased with the series triumph.
"There were a lot of positives in the series. We played well and were able to fight our way through. It's exciting to come out on top despite the conditions.
"We would have liked to make a clean sweep, but winning alone is satisfying. And despite what anyone may say, we've got the best team here. It wasn't any one person doing everything. It was a team effort."
Before the start of the fifth Test Pollock said he had warned his team about complacency.
"They listened but what we didn't count on was the West Indies making this kind of comeback at this stage. We were prepared for what happened, but not enough," he said.
Pollock hopes to rebound from this recent defeat with victory in the one-day series citing experience as key.
"We'll be prepared for the series. It's a different format but it shouldn't be too much of a problem for us to change over. A couple of the guys may be worried about that but once we get together as a team, we'll do what we need to.
"Experience plays a great role in all this. For the one-dayers coming up that should do the trick," he said.
