Tony Becca - FROM THE BOUNDARY THE WEST Indies take on England in the third Test of the Cable & Wireless Series at Kensington Oval starting tomorrow and although they are down 2-0, even though they lost their manager after the second match and nothing seems to be going right, the fans in Bridgetown are right behind them - and for a number of reasons.
"This is Kensington," said an elderly man yesterday, "and although Australia beat us here last year, nobody, certainly not England, is coming here and beat us - not this time."
"People can say what they want, but this team is not the same one that lost in Jamaica and in Trinidad," said another with a glass of Mount Gay rum in his hand. "Fast bowlers, good fast bowlers, have always won matches for the West Indies, and this team has four of them - all Bajans.
"People bad talking Dwayne Smith and saying that he cannot bat, but I am telling you this: that boy can bat, he can hit the ball, and if he gets going - as he will at Kensington, God help them Englishmen."
There is one other reason why Bajans are so confident: Tony Howard, the interim manager, is a Bajan.
"The West Indies have been in need of a good manager for a long time and now they have one," said another Bajan. "Tony is good and I mean really good. He is a no-nonsense man, he does not put up with nonsense and, apart from (Sherwin) Campbell, (Floyd) Reifer and Smith, and our fast bowlers, that is why nobody can beat Barbados."
That last reason seems to be the consensus in Bridgetown, and there is no doubt about it, Howard, a former Barbados and West Indies offspin bowler, is a no-nonsense man, he is a nice man, he is quiet and calm yet strong and firm.
When it comes to cricket, Barbados and West Indies cricket, he is passionate, and if any man around can do the job, he can - and he will attempt to do a good job even at the expense of not being confirmed in the job.
DISCIPLINE
The big problem in the West Indies team is not a lack of talent. It is indiscipline, it is a lack of unity, and it is the lack of pride and therefore the lack of commitment to training and practice and the determination to perform.
Howard's job is to change all that, and by planning to have one-and-one talks with the captain, the coach and then the players in an attempt to get to the root of the problem, he seems to understand that and is prepared to act.
"As far as I am concerned, we are looking to bring a sense of oneness that the whole of the region can see, a sense of overt discipline, and to see how best we can get this West Indies squad, which, believe it or not, has some of the best talent in the world, to work as a cohesive unit and bring back pride and joy to the West Indies public."
Those were the words of Howard on Monday, and there were more - including the following: "I expect to see some semblance of pride coming back in the way we carry ourselves on and off the field," said Howard as he stressed the importance of pride.
"I don't think about losing. Whenever we (Barbados) go to play, we play to win. That's my role in life. I am interested in winning and winning handsomely," said Howard as he talked about the importance of confidence - of having a positive approach.
With only two Test matches to go, time is not on Howard's side. As his compatriots have said, however, the match will be played at Kensington Oval - once the dreaded Lion's Den for visiting teams, four Bajans will be leading the West Indies to tell, he could make a winning start and leave the Bajans saying, I told you so.
On top of that, in captain Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and either Devon Smith or Daren Ganga, the Windies possess some batsmen who, if they fire, can be deadly.
