A differant type of cricket, but as we all know England used tactics that were last used (by England) in the 1979 WC final - and they didnt work then either!

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Mark.

LOL Very true.

It was good to see a few of them getting into decent figures. I was quite impressed with what I saw today. Sidebottoms inclusion was good thinking, and made a refreshing change from the usual faces.

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It is sad to see the present state of West Indian cricket.

Given this fact, I do not believe England should read too much into the performance of her players in this series.....

That is true. The cricketing world needs an old-fashioned West Indian team....all the singing, dancing, good fast bowling, instinctively attacking batting and the general good spirit that goes with Caribbean cricket. It has been missing for well over a decade now and something has to be done to turn it around.

I am not sure what the root of the problem is, but I wonder if it is cashflow. Some locals feel that too few youngsters are interested in cricket at school level these days because "they see no future in it" and prefer soccer or basketball. With the geographical proximity of the Caribbean Islands to Latin America and the USA, this trend was always on the cards once the British Colonial influence began to wane.

Too right there Nostromo, I would love to see a decent Windies side in test cricket. Sadly I think WI cricket is in a terminal decline and in 5 years will be the worst test nation around.

Despite all the 5-0 hammerings they gave us the 1980's WI side are still one of my favourite sides and IMO are the greatest side ever.

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Mark.

I agree with your opinion.

I hope that this is not true and there is going to be some sort of miraculous turnaround, but mine is probably wishful thinking and no more. When the West Indies are forced to rely on a third-rater like Darren Ganga to open their innings and fail to prodice a consistently good fast bowler, the decline does look terminal.

One of the main reasons as nothing can be done without money.

What is needed to resurrect WI cricket costs money and they don't have it.

Some kids in Australia like cricket, some local rugby, some swimming, some athletics etc...yet those who take up cricket are still able to perform the basics consistently enough.

Football and T&F Athletics have always been popular even during the height of WI cricketing power. When we were at school it was Sep-Dec is Football, Jan- Easter is Cricket, Easter-Summer is Track and Field.

And we had good footballers, cricketers and track and field athletes.

Far be it for me to plug my own posts but I made far better explanation of WI decline in a post archived in the great posts section. I thank whoever did that.

http://www.world-a-team.com/showthread.php?t=5879

As I've continually said about WI, what you are seeing is naturally talented amateurs going against a bunch of professionals.

Every now and then the amateurs might do something well but overall their lack of professionalism shines through.

They'll try hard and give 100% but they'll regularly come up short.

They are amateurs because they come from a system designed to produce only amateurs.

Our last true professional, Brian Lara, who got the push because enough people started to believe his presence was the problem, developed before the game took on its present form. I say that notwithstanding his genius like abilities and determination to succeed and the hard work he put into the game.

It hurts me like hell that they are losing so badly but I expect nothing less because what you put in, you get out.

And until fundamental steps (which cost money the board does not have) are put in to set up a cricketing system that produces quality players then it will continue.

And if they were put in today, not a single one of the players playing in the 2nd Test will be part of the solution as they have all been schooled under the failing system.

Same in England. But the situation with Caribbean kids is a bit different from their more affluent Western bretheren. I have travelled in the Caribbean and spoken to ordinary people like taxi drivers, waiters etc. There is the feeling that there is less pride and passion for cricket in today's youngsters than there used to be decades before. With the "West Indies" really a conglomeration of several proximal cricket-playing countires, loss of a central focus can quickly make matters deteriorate.

To illustrate a point in motivation; Fred Trueman mentions in his memoirs that when he first met Wes Hall in the late 1950s, the Barbadian could not even afford a pair of decent boots and often continued to bowl even though his feet were blistered from the old and oft-repaired footwear that he had. Yet, we know that some of Hall's most heroic performances are from that period and soon afterwards. I somehow cannot imagine that kind of dedication in any present day West Indians.

Yes but Mr Vaughan was captain in 2007.

Back to Test (proper) cricket, it's easy to point at scores by individuals, but they have to do that at the highest level.

This series is really saying nothing about how good England really are - but saying heaps about the England bowling.

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Ern