Spiritual promotion for 2007 World Cup

The victory clinched by the Barbadian duo of Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne is a welcome tonic for West Indians, undernourished by the thought of having to endure the team’s losing streak. The manner in which the win was achieved revived memories of the gallant West Indies squad battling to maintain the region’s pride. {{more}}

And with the 2007 ICC World Cup Final carded for Kensington Oval Barbados, the performance of both Browne and Bradshaw could not be more apt.

The overpowering of the Vaughn led English party restored the area’s happiness to a great extent. It came when some die-hards were beginning to give up.

The West Indies team was under enormous pressure. An ebullient, rebounding and rampaging English squad, buoyed with retrospection of their Test series bashing of the Windies at home and abroad, engendered an attitude of arrogance by them.

With the score at 147 for 8, the hometeam was celebrating. But alas, the party was premature. No one bargained for the likes of Bradshaw and Browne. They were the perfunctory members of the West Indies arsenal. It was a matter of formality, and Harmisson and Flintoff were to blow out the tail.

So when the Barbados captain and his compatriot weathered the English storm, the balance was swinging in the West Indies favour. And no matter how bad the light was, the batsmen were keeping the momentum.

The West Indies had more than climatic matters on their agenda. What had transpired in the region as a result of Ivan’s swing, was enough to galvanise the West Indies team into an Agency for the Caribbean Disaster Relief. And the best promotion was to take the appeal to its highest level. A job, which the Bajan pair calculated, was within their boundaries.

No English man envisioned that 71 runs would be erased by that lower order. The English men blazed their way to what was an apparent victory. Therein lies the magnitude of the triumph. For the run chase was measured and well executed.

The difficulty the region went through while the cricketers were fighting on the cricket arena must have injected the lads with a sense of brotherhood. For hardly in recent times had the team displayed that type of intelligence which have won us many a match.

The discipline of the bowlers with the near elimination of no balls was a contributing factor to the team’s success. And the reduction of wides was also crucial.

The ICC Champions trophy capture has catapulted the West Indies into international reckoning, and the trauma of our prolonged sojourn at the bottom of the table, or in the doldrums will be a fleeting experience. We have paid our dues with the pain we endured from the rampaging international teams.

The journey is far from over. In fact, the road is only starting. The defence of that trophy is 2006 in India. And what a prelude that would be to the tropical extravaganza on Caribbean shores one year later 2007.

Whatever unfolds, the 2004 ICC Champions trophy will remain as part of the glorious moments in West Indies cricket.