West Indies back on track

West Indies cricket has gone through such sharp twists and turns for a decade and more now that it would be premature to proclaim the latest sudden turn as the rediscovery of the highway that previously led it to glory. A succession of drivers, all with the aid of specialist navigators, have briefly steered the vehicle in the right direction only to be thrown off course by some unforeseen impediment. Every little advance has been checked by a swerve into a deep ditch and an urgent need for repairs.

Now, just when it seemed that another crash would render it a complete write-off, best left on the scrap heap, the wrecker has once more come to drag it out and put it back on the road. With an old hand at the wheel, one with considerable personal experience of such predicaments, the engine has been switched back on and the journey has restarted.

Initial progress has been most encouraging-in every respect. The clean sweep of the five available one-day internationals against depleted, outclassed Zimbabwe was no more than expected. The margins could have been more emphatic but, for a team to which winning had become a distant memory, it was the result that mattered.

The real test followed in the series ending today at the Queen's Park Oval against India, the team ranked third in the ICC's ODI table, victorious in 21 of their last 29 matches, confident, well-balanced and well-led.

The outcome has been an unconditional triumph. To come back from a potentially deflating defeat in the first match and win the next three on the trot was a complete contradiction of West Indies' record of 19 defeats in their previous 23 matches. When appalling fielding allowed victory to literally slip through their grasp in the opening match at Sabina Park and then a limp batting performance resulted in a score of 198 for 9 in the second, there was an inevitable resignation that the wheels had again fallen off.

On all preceding evidence, such a scenario would have equated to the sort of whitewashes inflicted on West Indies last season by South Africa and Pakistan at home. Focus would have been lost, heads would have dropped, spirits broken. Instead, it triggered an intensity and self-belief seldom seen in West Indies teams since the heady days under Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards. It may just be a passing phenomenon but there are reasons for optimism that it is more.

They were evident in Ramnaresh Sarwan's batting, Chris Gayle's all-round play, Dwayne Bravo's magically deceptive slower ball (and the gumption to use it even in the most desperate situation), the effective bowling combinations of pace and spin, the transformation in the fielding. Off the field, as much as on it, Brian Lara, back at the helm for the third time, has been the main catalyst although the diligent, long-term work of the coaching staff, so often berated, has had a role.

Dwayne Bravo has been one of the big success stories for West Indies © AFP

For the very valid reason that, at 37, Lara is a short-term choice, his reinstatement has attracted some prominent disapproval. Nor did he provide convincing leadership in his two earlier stints when he allowed himself - and was allowed - to be distracted by issues unrelated to the game. He was neither the selectors' choice nor the preference of some board directors. But board president Ken Gordon saw experience and a new maturity in the aging superstar that was absent from other candidates.

In addition, he was desperate to have the prolonged squabble between the WICB and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) healed, for no progress could be made once there remained friction between some players. Shivnarine Chanderpaul's resignation as captain followed and the subsequent settlement with WIPA opened the way for Lara's promotion and Gordon took it upon himself to engineer the appointment. Next year's World Cup was obviously a consideration but, whatever the influences, it was a brave decision and it has paid early dividends.

Even before his recall, Lara spoke enthusiastically about the potential of the young players in the team (seven of the 14 in the ODI squad against India are 25 or under, two are 26). His role in the time he had left, he said last month, was to work on improving the mental side of their game. He chastised the media in New Zealand for what he saw as their lack of respect for the rich history of West Indies cricket. He is obviously distressed by the factors that have brought it to its knees, unable to prevent the decline to the bottom of the heap in world cricket, even with his phenomenal batting exploits or in his earlier stints as captain.

He has been given the final chance to create a West Indies team that manages to, at last, regain the respect that not only the New Zealand media had lost for it. There has been an unmistakeable fervour to his captaincy not always evident in his earlier stints and his young charges have responded to it. The trick now is to maintain the intensity and the consistency.

Three straight ODI wins, no matter the circumstances, and laps of honour around Sabina, Warner Park and the Queen's Park Oval to greet fans reenergised by their performances are all well and good. But they are just the start.

Only a year and a half ago, success in the ICC Champions Trophy in England, that included victories over South Africa, Pakistan and, in the final, England, seemed to signal a new beginning. Within months, the WICB and WIPA were at each other's throats, the boycott of last year's Sri Lankan tour followed and the momentum was lost.

There are unlikely to be such distractions this time. The series of four Tests against India, starting in Antigua on Friday, sets entirely different challenges. The effect of the triumph in the ODIs can be better assessed then. For the moment, West Indians are relishing that winning feeling once again.