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by Richard Dwight

How true, the more we begin to feel that we know everything there is to cricket, the more we soon humbly come to realise, the little we know, and that there is still much more to gather from this fascinating great game.

The game holds much for the discerning follower, provided one is prepared to learn from the in-depth subtleties and intrinsic features that emerge, which at times escape the average mind. For there is much to cricket than the mere scoring of runs and taking of wickets, or the winning or losing of a match. So much so, it's often spoken of as a way of life and a leveller of sorts.

It's against this background, that we wish to think, that at St. John's Antigua last Tuesday, cricket held sway to choose the West Indian cricket team as its medium to re-emphasise to the Australian cricketers in particular and, yet all others "That there is a time to win and a time to lose" - proving as well in the process that the game is far more greater than the team and, more important than the individual player.

The all conquering, invincible Australian team dominating the cricket world for now a well nigh decade, were true to form on course to inflict a series whitewash on the Windies, having convincingly won the earlier three test matches.

On the final day of the fourth and last test match, the Windies lost Chanderpaul, who added just one run to his overnight score of 103 to be 372 for 7, still needing 46 runs for victory with the tail exposed.

The Aussies living up to their reputation as a champion outfit, with a brilliant set of batsmen and bowlers, not forgetting their amazing ability as fielders to a man, were closing in to achieve their goal of a whitewash.

Little did they realise, that they would have to contend with a very committed match winning 8th wicket partnership of 46 runs between off spinner Omari Banks and the medium pacer Vasbert Drakes, Indeed, it was an irony to observe the fielding for which Australia was famed for, drop - with Martin Love spilling a straight forward simple catch, when Banks was on 2 and then earlier Drakes almost played on, with the edged ball just missing the stumps to speed on to the boundary.

How do we explain such crucial, decisive lapses from the unyielding, great Aussies, which in the end counted for much to bring about a Windies victory.

Some would put it down to luck and the glorious uncertainties of cricket, all of which so fashioned come under the unseen hand of cricket which reigns supreme. And in this instance guiding the Windies to a timely victory, that gave West Indian cricket a shot in the arm, under its newly appointed captain, Brian Lara.

This does not however detract from the extraordinary performance displayed by the Windies, which certainly fell into line to bring about the end result.

We do not certainly wish to take anything away from them and they fully deserve the plaudits of the many for their splendid effort.

As we hark back to the past, it must be mentioned that as coloureds living in this part of the world, our sympathies were with the Windies and were very supportive of the progress they made as enterprising cricketers in the eighties and first half of the nineties.

They were undoubtedly a force to be reckoned, with their superb batting, awesome crop of pace bowlers and fine set of leaders. Opposing sides were demolished with disdain and, for fifteen years in their encounters with Australia, they successfully held on to the Frank Worrell trophy as world champions.

But soon some of us began to tire off, when the Windies continued to dominate the world of cricket, to the extent that it had a demoralising effect on the others.

And just when we had begun to feel that enough was enough of Windies supremacy, much to the relief of many the Australians led by Mark Taylor came along to defeat the Windies and regain the Worrell trophy after 15 long years in 1995, quite a long wait indeed.

Since then the Australians do appear to ride on the crest of a wave, progressing from strength to strength, as a collosus in the arena of world cricket.

Such domination of one team over the others for long periods, apart from being a bore and cause frustration, will as well in the process enable opposing sides to raise standards and their quality of play and make them more determined to be successful.

It's a pity, that the Antiguan test match was marred by a player or two from the powerful Australian side, having a verbal harangue with a Windies batsman and its captain. No reigning team however superior must be allowed to take the attitude of 'I'm monarch of all I survey, my right there's none to dispute'. - Even so, experience tells us and, it's heartening to know, that cricket in its own way at some stage, will sort this out as well.

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