da dobrowin： A one-nil victory Test series victory against lowly Zimbabwe, and atriangular final win against professional big stage flops India, is not thekind of success that the West Indians of yesteryear would boast about, butcaptain Carl Hooper is
Charlie Austin03-Nov-2001A one-nil victory Test series victory against lowly Zimbabwe, and atriangular final win against professional big stage flops India, is not thekind of success that the West Indians of yesteryear would boast about, butcaptain Carl Hooper is convinced that the team has turned the corner.
Carl Hooper,left, andRicky Skerritt
Photo AFP
The Caribbean has watched in horror as their once great team, which hadarrogantly and stylishly dominated world cricket for two decades, started apainful decline in the mid-1990’s, from world beaters to internationalwhipping boys. The process reached its humiliating nadir when they weredismissed for 54 in Lords and 63 in Leeds last year against an efficient butno means special English side.It appeared that Carl Llewellyn Hooper, who had played with the team in itspomp, could no longer stomach failure when, on the eve of the 1999 WorldCup, he called it a day and disappeared Down Under to play club cricket.Then, in March this year, after a prolific Busta Cup performance for Guyana,he came out of retirement and was immediately and controversially insertedas captain. He was given responsibility for leading the side out of a spiralof failure; a process that he firmly believes is well underway.Beads of sweat running down his forehead, as he sat in the shade after theend of the teams three-hour session at the Sinhalese Sports Club, he didn’ttell the rastas back home to start cranking up the bass and rolling theirsound systems through the streets in triumphant expectation, but he offeredWest Indian supporters everywhere a cheering puff of hope.”I can see that our young players are developing,” he said. “In two to threeyears this side will be something to be reckoned with. There will be ups anddowns, but we can get stronger and better and bring this side back to whatit once was.”We haven’t done too badly in the last 6-7 months. We began with a homeseries against South Africa and even though we didn’t win it, we were morecompetitive (West Indies had been pummeled five-nil in South Africa) andthen had a good African tour.”From the South African tour we have been trying players who would form thenucleus of the 2003 world cup squad and I think we have gone a long waytowards identifying certain players. The likes of Chris Gayle, MarlonSamuels and Ramnaresh Sarwan are very exciting prospects.”We lost a lot of stars in recent times, including the likes of Greenidge,Haynes, Walsh and Ambrose, but I am sure these youngsters will soon be ableto fill their shoes.”It is hard to say how quickly these young players will develop, but I cansee that they are. You only have to look at guys like Chris (Gayle) andothers and you can see that they have become better players.”The West Indies now faces a tough challenge against Sri Lanka in theirbackyard. The pitches are unlikely to suit the West Indian fast bowlers andSri Lanka are full of confidence after their recent series win againstIndia.”Sri Lanka could be a good test for us,” agrees Hooper. “But playing thelikes of Muralitharan is what Test cricket is all about. We have come-upagainst some world-class bowlers in recent times and I don’t think we needto get too worried.”It’s a challenge for the younger players, but it’s also a good tour forthem to figure out how to play world class spinners and, if they get someruns, it will do wonders for their confidence.”Ricky Skerritt, team manager for the last 19 months, is also confident aboutthe West Indies future: “I have seen a lot of progress and I am confidentthat in 12-24 months the world is going to be pretty impressed with whatthey see coming out of the West Indies.””We have been trying to bring in some systems and standard formats so wecould have greater planning and continuity, which tended to be an area ofweakness in the past. It’s a steep learning curve and you cannot createcricketers overnight, but if you prepare scientifically, properly andappropriately then you are helping them come through quicker.”Neither Hooper or Skerritt pretend the garden is all rosy, but their upbeatearly tour talk appears convincing. Now, though, the cricketers must follow.