Tony Becca The West Indies ended their tour of England on Saturday on a winning note, and every West Indian, wherever he or she was, was singing their praise.
After losing the first match of the one-day contest by 79 runs, the West Indies recovered to win the second by 61 runs to level the count, and then on Saturday at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, in Robin Hood's country, they nailed England by the commanding margin of 93 runs to win the third and to lift the trophy.
It was a great finish to a tour that had seen the West Indies losing the Test series 3-0 without, but for a few fleeting moments here and there, putting up a fight, sharing the Twenty20 contest 1-1 after winning the first one, and the sight of the players celebrating after pacer Ravi Rampaul had trapped Monty Panesar leg before wicket to wrap up the proceedings was wonderful.
It was so wonderful, so touching, that it almost brought tears to my eyes.
In the Test series, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with 446 runs at an average of 148.66, played almost a lone hand in saving the West Indies from total embarrassment he led the way in the one-day series with 202 runs at an average of 202, however, he received great support from almost every one, from Marlon Samuels, from Dwayne Bravo, from Rampaul, Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards, and in the last match, from captain Christopher Gayle, Runako Morton, and Bravo, Powell, Edwards, and Rampaul.
Edwards bowled fast and accurate, Powell was fast enough and accurate, Rampaul maintained a nagging length throughout, and all three handed the West Indies a glorious start in the second and third matches with Edwards coming back and handing the West Indies a wicket or two whenever they needed one.
Impressive
As well as they batted - but for the first match, and as well as they bowled in all three matches, the West Indies, led by Dwayne Smith and Bravo, were most impressive in the field, both on the ground and in the air. In fact, they were so impressive that I can remember only one mistake in all three matches.
I will long remember Gayle's one-handed left-hand catch at first slip to dismiss Dimitri Mascarenhas off Edwards when the pocket powerhouse, the little thunderbolt was called in to get a wicket for the West Indies, and most importantly, I also will long remember Samuels' catch to dismiss Liam Plunkett off Edwards' bowling.
The cool man
Stationed at square-leg, Samuels, the usually cool Samuels, the man who, on so many occasions, has been so cool that his footwork has been so slow that he often times does not get behind the ball and gets out caught in the slips, the man who has been so cool that he has been slow running between the wickets and gets out run-out a number of times, raced in, dived forward, and came up with a fantastic catch.
That, to me, epitomised the spirit of the team, an England are not Australia, or South Africa, or Sri Lanka, that was why the West Indies won and were so happy.
Win, lose or draw, that is the kind of spirit, the kind of commitment to the game and to the team that every West Indian, at home or abroad, would like to see from the West Indies team, and not just for one day or for one-day matches.
The people would love to see that kind of spirit every time the West Indies are in action.That is the kind of spirit, the kind of commitment, the all-for-one, one-for-all support that can turn even a team of ordinary batsmen, ordinary bowlers, and ordinary fielders into a winning combination.
