Braced for backlash

On the heels of two successive victories over their formidable opponents, Carl Hooper is expecting South Africa to rebound with venom in the second Cable & Wireless One-Day International at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) today.

"They are definitely going to come back. There are no two ways about that," the West Indies captain said yesterday.

"They are going to come back, and come back hard in this game, and we have got to be prepared for that."

South Africa's last-ball defeat in the opening match of the series at Sabina Park on Saturday was only their second loss in their last 12 One-Day Internationals and it followed a defeat against the West Indies in the final match of the Test series.

Two wins in succession, in whatever form of the game, have not been commonplace for the West Indies during the last ten months, but they are not enough to make Hooper's men feel they are on top of the world.

"I don't think we are in a position where we can even think about being complacent," he said.

"We're only 1-0 up in a seven-match series, so there is still a lot of cricket to be played. If we had won four (games), we probably would be looking at it differently. We've got to try and win this one here and try and win four games as quickly as possible."

Hooper was speaking after the West Indies' practice session at the Airport Ground and he pronounced himself fully fit after sustaining cramps in both legs while batting on Saturday.

"Jamaica was just a bout of cramps caused by the loss of too much water but I am 100 per cent fit and ready to go," he said.

"I had a bat yesterday and today and I feel fine. I'm okay."

West Indies, however, suffered a casualty with the unavailability of the hard-hitting Ricardo Powell, who sustained a thigh strain while batting in Jamaica. In any case, there was a feeling that Shivnarine Chanderpaul would have challenged Powell for his place.

There is another change to the side, with local boy Kerry Jeremy predictably making way for Nixon McLean. Jeremy bowled five expensive overs in Jamaica.

The match is the West Indies' first at the ARG since 1989 and only the sixth ever One-Day International in this country.

West Indies have never lost here in their previous four appearances, but when they last played at the ground, Vivian Richards was still captain of a team that included the likes of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Jeffrey Dujon, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop.

Interestingly enough, Haynes made a century when the ARG hosted its first One-Day International in 1978 and Greenidge had the pleasure of hitting the only other three-digit score when the ground staged its last match involving the West Indies.

Hooper is the only survivor from those days.

The recent wins would have boosted everyone, but the West Indies captain said it was important that the trend be maintained.

"We struggled a little bit during the Test series and we finally managed to pull one back in Jamaica and then won the first One-Day game, which was good for our confidence," he said.

"Obviously, we want to continue the winning ways and hopefully build team-morale and confidence as we look towards the future."

What the experience of the last two weeks proved to the West Indies was that they have what it requires to overcome opponents who trounced them 5-0 in the 1998-99 Test series and 6-1 in the One-Day Internationals that followed.

"We've won one and think we should have won that one by a wider margin," Hooper said in reference to the Jamaica match in which the West Indies nearly slipped up in pursuit of a target of 201.

"We've shown that we've got what it takes to beat them. I don't see any reason why shouldn't win again here and then hopefully take the same thing down to Grenada."

The match marks the debut One-Day International appearance of Antiguan umpire Clancy Mack.