Sport loving fans tend to get attached to a team while watching any team sport. This attachment grows as the fan follows the fortunes of their team through thick and thin.

This past week while watching sports on the international scene, most fans demonstrate the gamut of emotions as their team either loses or wins. The emotions are intensified if a final or championship is being decided.

But win, lose, or draw what fans want to see is their team do their best, while at the same time, even if they lose, show an effort that brings the satisfactory glow that is associated with “they tried”.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of West Indian fans, who despite all the signs that nothing has changed, continue to hope.

After losing the Test Series to the mighty Australians, our team returned home, not to practice and improve their skills in the format of the next stage of the Australia/West Indies contest, but inexplicably, were committed to a four-day competition, with no opportunity to improve One-Day and Twenty20 skills.

West Indies injuries

As the time for the next stage of the Australia tour drew near, West Indian fans heard the bad news of injury after injury of our more experienced and accomplished cricketers. The fear that some of these injuries would dramatically heal in time for the lucrative Indian Premier League, seemed to pale in the stark reality that we were about to be mauled again, in competition against the best cricketers in the world.

Some members of the team stayed on in Australia, but alas and alack the bulk of the team announced seemed to be manned by those tried and proven failures at the shortened version of the game.

The improved form of those playing the four-day version of the game was supposed to translate somewhat magically to inspired performances against our opponents, who were proven masters of their craft.  The result: embarrassment.

Our captain, who with, at the time, admirable bravado, predicted a series victory. Those in the know wondered if he was on medication.

That we lost the first two matches in embarrassing fashion was not surprising. What was surprising to me was the response of our leader Christopher Gayle. His outburst against whoever was picking the team that played in those first two matches made it perfectly clear where he thought the blame lay.

Sanctions against Gayle

If history is to be our guide you can expect sanctions against the captain for his outburst. Yet, a calm review of his obvious anger would reveal that our captain is correct.

The absence of Wavell Hinds and Brendan Nash from the final XI cannot be explained logically. The decision to open with Runako Morton is mind boggling considering his history in the shorter form of the game and the “oddities” go on.

I am confident that the team will show an improvement in the three matches to come, Chris Gayle does not take scores of seven and a first ball duck lightly, therefore expect a century at least.

Our problem at this level is with our bowlers. That is where the restrictive efforts of Wavell Hinds and skipper Gayle come in. I do not think that West Indians will win any of the three remaining fifty-over games, but at least I expect that the mini-revolt by the captain will see a competitive effort in those future matches.

That is all we-the-fans request.

Almost a football shock

In football a team of young men who were all born in Jamaica and coached by a “local” coach almost brought off the shock of the century in a match last Wednesday night.

In the end we lost 2-1 having led the contest until the last fifteen minutes of the game.

The outstanding goalkeeper who kept us in the game, succumbed to inexperience and a relieved coach Maradonna saw his tenure as the head coach of Argentina extended by a few more matches, because make no bones about it, if Argentina had lost a football match to Jamaica, in Argentina, Diego Maradonna would be unemployed.

It is my fervent hope that the JFF allows the development stage to continue and give our local Reggae Boyz a chance to show their stuff and fail, if we play against better teams.

Bora Mulitnovic and John Barnes were not allowed to give our boys a chance. Please “low Tapper”.