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The New Calypso Kings

Wednesday, March 26 2003

On the eve of the Australia's tour to the Caribbean, the question still remains; will the West Indies ever live up to the reputation they developed in the late 70’s and 80’s? The good old days consisted of Viv Richards hitting fours and sixes at will, while at the other end of the card, you had Malcolm Marshall, terrorising the best batsmen the world had to offer. These memories will always live as fragments of our imagination, but the spirit of West Indian cricket lives on. The future of West Indies cricket sees their team on the verge of greatness.

Player for player, the West Indies are a side that has a lot of potential match-winners.

Opening batter Chris Gayle is an exciting player to watch. His aggressive attitude with bat in hand will see him rack up a lot of big scores before his career is out. Look out for his duel with Glenn McGrath, but don’t be surprised if Gayle comes out on top. It seems that the best way to dominate McGrath is to make him alter his line. We saw by the New Zealanders that if you can leave most of McGrath’s deliveries alone, he will get frustrated and start bowling half-volleys, and hookable bouncers. Gayle will look to dominate in this fashion, and continue his reputation of being a clean striker of the cricket ball.

Isn't it great to see Brian Lara on the mend!? He has stated that he is on the long road back to being the best batsman in the world, and his temperament in this series will be one to watch. Will we see the dashing strokeplay, or the frustrated individual? So often we have seen Lara go into his shell, and just let everything pass by him, or as we saw in the last series in the Caribbean, he can be the inspirational leader which takes his side into insurmountable positions. No matter what Glenn McGrath says about Lara being his bunny, you just cannot keep a champion down.

Merv Dillon is one fast bowler will be one to watch. Now a more mature fast bowler than in the team's last meeting in Australia, his smooth run-up and underestimated pace will have the Aussie’s hopping. I still believe that Dillon is the one bowler who has the wood over Matthew Hayden. Last series down under saw Hayden dismissed numerous occasions by Dillon, with the ball that goes across him. This will limit Hayden's scoring opportunities, and force him into error. Dillon will lead the attack, and is an inspirational player to follow. His never-say-die attitude has been admired by all cricket lovers.

Well, there's a little sample of things to come, in what should be a competitive series. The West Indies are a side that is seriously on the mend, while Australia continues to run riot over the cricketing world. Who will dominate in the battle for the Frank Worrell Trophy?


Posted by Dominic