The meat safe and the study desk

Having watched the India-Australia match over the last four days, two days at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, cant hel but feel disappointed at the final result. The rains were going to come sometime or the other as was feared all along. But, one didn’t expect the rains to have the final laugh. The game was very intiguingly poised for the last day, with India pushing for a series-levelling victory. If it was any indication, the last shot on day 4 by Sehwag gave a hint to the approach the Indians would have adopted on day 5. And, what a day it would have been. Though history did not favor India’s chances (the highest score made on the 5th day at Chepauk was 155, in that epic India-Australia series in 2001) this new look Indian team might have made it. Not without a tough time, mind you. The aussies would have come hard and stromg and i personally expected Kasprowicz to have the biggest impact, with Gillespie drying the runs from the other end. Sad, we will now have to wait for the Nagpur test to see which way this series may go.

The Nagpur wicket is a batsman’s paradise. This doesn’t read too well for the Indians. If India are to effect a victory in Nagpur, they’ll have to bat first, pile on runs, runs and more runs and then dismiss the aussies twice. Tough ask. This leaves us with Hyderabad for the last test. Frankly, no one can determine the final outcome of this series for sure, at the moment.

The importance of this last day’s play(now washed out) at Madras is not meagre. Had India pulled off a win the momentum would have been with them, their confidence back, series levelled, the team settling as a unit and so on. These things have eluded India recently. But now, we are back to Australis leading the test series 1-0. The Madras test will be forgotten and the aussies will be attempting to wrap up things at Nagpur.

The beauty of this test has been that each of the five days, rather four, have served an interesting proposition. Each of us, a group of friends felt that the next day would be the deciding day, it went that way till the end, with the last day being anybodys! Now that’s the most we can expect of a test match. I thorougly enjoyed the opening stand of Haydos-Langie in the first innings, followed by the ‘Jumbo’ effort of Kumble, Warnie’s record, Martyn’s patient ton and the excitement of watching all this live! Would have loved it if Australia could have wrapped it up though…:-)!!

“Truth crushed to the ground rises again.” This saying is applicable to the West Indies cricket team led by Brian Lara. They were vilified and chastised by their own Caribbean journalists, former cricketers and the ordinary West Indian folks also joined in the chorus of criticism and condemnation of Brian Lara and his team.

Not too long ago, former West Indies fast bowler Colin Croft called for Lara to be fired as West Indies captain. Yet another former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding made it publicly known on the eve of a Test match that he was “not a fan of Brian Lara.” The negatives of Tony Cozier against Lara and his team are well documented. Even Viv Richards, a former captain who, as chairman of the West Indies selectors was accused of cursing players in the dressing room also joined in the call for Lara’s head.

What is amazing is that none of the critics took time to analyse where West Indies cricket was at, in relation to the causes for the rough patch they were going through. It was blows left, right and centre for Lara and his team. However, there were no such comments from the dignified Clive Lloyd and his former deputy Deryck Murray. In fact, when I interviewed Deryck Murray at the recent Great Race at Crown Point, he was emphatic that Lara was not to be blamed for the present state of West Indies cricket. He made it clear that Brian Lara was the most capable individual to lead West Indies at this time.

As fate would have it, Brian Lara and his young team defied all the odds and scored one of the most compelling victories in the history of One-day cricket when they crushed the now mighty English team in the final of the ICC one-day tournament last week Saturday in England.

As they say, “what in the dark must come to light”, and as if guided by a divine force Lara and his Caribbean men fought in the cold and the dark to bring pride and joy to the people of a region battered and bruised by Mother Nature.

As the late, great African-American soul singer Sam Cook once sang, “Nobody loves you when you are down and out”. There were many who showed no love for Lara and his team when things were not going their way. For some it was pure hate, but how things have changed. As we now enjoy the happiness the team has brought to the region, let us remember that in Brian Lara we have a genius and such individuals are a rarity among mankind. It was a former national cricketer and now administrator Richard De Souza who once said: “In Brian Lara we have a gift from God, let’s not destroy it (him)”. Geniuses inspire ordinary men and women to great achievements, and when Lara took that extraordinary catch to remove the English danger man Andrew Flintoff, the tone was set for what was to be the final outcome of the game.

For a team whom their own Caribbean commentators described as “spineless”, “gutless”, “pathetic” and not being worthy of the great West Indies teams of the past, their achievement is even more significant. However, as we move forward, I am in full support of Deryck Murray for the West Indies Cricket Board to rethink its position on the hiring of a foreign coach for the West Indies cricket team. We have got to face the reality that world sport has a lot to do with world power and what guarantee do we have to suggest that a foreign coach will be totally committed to the goal of West Indies being the dominant force in world cricket. What may be good for other countries may not be in our best interest.

Thanks to Brian Lara and the West Indies team and keep on keeping on despite whatever the odds. So hail Lara’s West Indies!

The above article appeared in the Tobagonews website.