It was a series rout, yes, but... Print E-mail
Category: Features
Written by Luke Tagg   
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 00:10
South Africa completed their thorough dismantling of West Indian cricket early on the morning of Day 4 of the third and final Test in Barbados, winning the third Test by seven wickets and the three-Test series 2-0.

When added to their wins in two T20s and five ODIs it represents a rich haul on this tour of the Caribbean, yet it's all a little hollow.

I'm happy about it - don't get me wrong - but I feel like the big kid who's pleased with himself for taking the candy away from the little one. Yeah, you won. Congratulations. Enjoy the candy, bad-ass.

Victory is never as satisfying when there was no fight in the first place. That's no fault of the Proteas - they obliterated (for now) the ugly memory of the World Twenty20 and did what they needed to do, with a generous lashing of style.

They weren't exactly challenged, however, by a Windies side with as much spine as a jellyfish.

Everyone wants West Indies cricket to be restored to its former glory - I'm no different. I was brought up on Hansa Pilsener ads in which some poor unfortunate would pad up to Windies legend Sylvester Clarke, his knees knocking in fright, and utter the catchphrase: "I'd rather be opening a Hansa", before his dying scream was mercifully edited out.

We caught a rare glimpse of that old West Indian hostility during a fiery spell from Kemar Roach on the fourth morning, when he sconned Jacques Kallis and got in his face about it. Good, vicious bowling - pity it took him three matches to find it.

One of the reasons I loved Gary Kirsten was his ability to take multiple hits on the body, hands and head yet go on to guts out a big score - winning under such circumstances is the nadir of Test cricket. It's why they called it a Test in the first place. The more adversity you face the greater your achievement when you conquer it.

When your opposition simply walks up to you and politely hands you their wickets, however, victory isn't quite as sweet.

If Shiv Chanderpaul can stick it out to make 300 runs in the series, why can't anyone else? He faced the same good bowling everyone else did.

It wasn't all Windies capitulation - there was some brilliant bowling from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and some world class batting from Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers. No matter how bad your opposition you still need to do your job, and that they most assuredly did.

Hopefully the magnitude of their series victories will be enough to prompt some urging rumblings behind the dark oak doors at the end of the corridor of power in West Indian cricket. Failure to arrest the obvious slide could lead to something far worse than a series whitewash.
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