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Does SA's victory in the West Indies tell us much?

As expected, South Africa thrashed the West Indies.

I don’t know why this would arouse much interest at all. This once great bastion of cricket has become the perennial whipping boys of world cricket. While most teams still hold some ability to play well at home, West Indies, where any team would normally shudder at touring there before, is now considered almost a guaranteed win for most team.

Concorde

Our arrival in Barbados was delayed by some four hours due to a problem with the charter flight which was fortunate because it meant we could watch England’s last qualifying match against Slovenia. A tense affair with England playing marginally better than they have so far in this World Cup and just doing enough to qualify.

A Personal Triumph

Victory over the West Indies in the 1st Test was comprehensive and thorough. Given that play didn’t start until 14h30 on the first day, winning by the close of the fourth day translates into a 3½ win. Celebrations followed and the next day we were on our way to the island of St Kitts and the venue for the 2nd Test starting today.

The Marriott Hotel & Resort is an enormous hotel which seems to spread over a couple of acres. I am fortunate enough to have a room in the main building thus negating the ten minute walk to the breakfast room every morning.

Uplifting

Trinidad’s geographic location as the most southerly of the West Indian islands situated just north of Guyana which, of course, is actually part of mainland South America, does not auger well for dry weather. We have had a fair amount of rain during the week off between the last ODI and the 1st Test due to start today (Thursday). The weather has already interfered with the two day warm up match meaning that the South African’s had a day of batting but only just a few overs of bowling.

All that Jazz

Wherever you are in the world if the Springboks are playing an international you have to make every effort to make sure that you watch it. On Saturday the boys played against Wales and much research had gone into the start time and a venue in which we could watch. Four of us, all South Africans, set off after breakfast for the cricket ground and the sports bar therein called “All Out”. We were told that the game started at 10h00 on Fox Sports but we were only aware that the billing was simply ‘International Rugby’.

White Washed Windies

The Proteas have made amends for their abysmal performance in the T20 World Cup. White washing the West Indies in both the T20 and ODI formats will certainly go some way towards taking the team into a new era. New combinations have been tried, the top order have been in blistering form, but as good as The Proteas were in this series the West Indies were woeful. We need to be cautious in celebrating this victory.

Last of the ODIs

Today saw the last of the ODI’s with the West Indies once again winning the toss and choosing bat first on a very dry looking pitch. It would seem that Sulieman Benn has been left out of the team for disciplinary reasons because the West Indies have gone into this game without a specialist spinner. South Africa on the hand, have played both spinners so it isn’t difficult to form an opinion on Mr Benn’s omission.

Ironing & Angelo's

Well I am here to tell you all that I put in a career best performance with the iron this morning. I have to confess that I surprised myself with the ease with which I flattened out three shirts in ten minutes or so. The other five shirts are casual shirts so I am going to let them hang themselves out, I wouldn’t want to get too carried away with this new found skill that I have discovered.

The competitive instinct kicks

 It is a very long time since I competed at international level -- at
least it feels like a very long time -- but one thing I clearly remember
from the many one-day series in which I was involved was the thrill of a
possible clean sweep.

   There is only one thing harder than winning a series, and that is to win
every single game.  It rarely happens, even between undoubted favourites and
significant underdogs, so when you get the chance to do it, especially in a
five match series, the competitive instinct kicks in as hard as ever.

Operation Launderette

Yesterday I promised to investigate things a little more thoroughly and here is some feedback. The Hyatt Hotel, Port of Spain, is a beautiful hotel and certainly the best that we have stayed in so far. Both teams are here as well which tells us we are moving up in the world! Situated on the sea front overlooking the harbour but with no beach as such, one can see as many as 25 tankers and cargo ships at any one time. Along the front of the hotel is a promenade rather than a beach.

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