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West
Indies 2004
At last,
an impressive series victory by England and away
from home too. A three nil victory against the
West Indies, the first in the Caribbean since 1968,
is something all Englishmen (and Welshmen!) can be
proud of. It isn’t just the emphatic score that
stands out, it was the manner of that victory and the
way that the England team (and their vast army of supporters)
conducted themselves throughout.
Here is a team we can all be proud of, a team of highly
trained, supremely fit and totally committed individuals
who play for each other as a unit. What a turn around
from only a year ago. We may not yet be up to the standard
of the Australians or even the South Africans and Indians
but I think we are taking steps in the right direction
after years of virtual oblivion. This was a series
victory of talent, dedication and ruthless efficiency.
I was only there for the series clinching victory in
Barbados and the draw in Antigua but it was obvious
each time the team took to the field that they were
completely focussed and utterly determined in the pursuit
of their goal.
In Barbados
the match turned around after the brilliant rearguard
action by Graham Thorpe, grabbing a century
when we were in trouble and also by the Mathew Hoggard
hat trick ably assisted by some excellent bowling by
Andrew Flintoff, man of the series Steve Harmison and
Simon Jones. A series-clinching victory in three days
away from home, it doesn’t get much better does
it? Actually, I gained almost as much pleasure from
the draw in Antigua. Here we had a wicket seemingly
prepared and designed to prevent another West Indies
loss and series whitewash and when the home side won
the toss and elected to bat first you sensed what was
coming. The West Indies were playing for pride and
Brian Lara was playing for his captaincy and maybe
even his career. Lara didn’t disappoint and whatever
the state of the wicket 400 not out is a fantastic
achievement. So, a declaration on 751 with two and
a half days left in stifling heat was an enormous challenge
to England who must have been shattered after fielding
for the previous two and a half days.
Some people
say the true test of a man is how he behaves in adversity
and not when things are going his way.
Clearly this England team thrive on a challenge and
they certainly rose to this challege in style. We saw
a true captain’s performance from Michael Vaughan
and some solid batting by his team-mates to ensure
a clean sheet and a three to nil victory which even
the mighty Aussies couldn’t manage last year.
It was a great result and maybe even a moral victory.
It was as though, having already won the series and
entitled to take the foot off the gas, the English
dared the opposition to give it their best shot. Brian
Lara certainly did that but at the end of the day it
wasn’t enough, they gave it their best shot but
they still couldn’t defeat England.
Yes, we
can all be proud of our team and proud too of our
supporters, the Barmy Army who were vociferous
in their support but remained well behaved (even when
clearly pickled!), witty in their chants and magnanimous
in victory. I don’t think I will ever forget
the massed English ranks chanting “There’s
only one Brian Lara” when the great man was presented
with his man of the match award. It was sport as it
should be, victory enjoyed to the full by the winners
with dignity and respect for the losers.
JE
17.4.04
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