Time was when a West Indies tour was a glamorous occasion. South Africa missed out on seeing the West Indies during their peak years because of apartheid.
The sides from that region that have toured here since 1992, have, but for a triangular one-day series back in 1993, been poor representatives of the West Indies.
The tour party of 2014/15 is not a strong side. The are some good individuals – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach – but as a team, they are not a group that should be able to beat South Africa.
This is not the West Indies team of Richards, Lloyd, Ambrose, Walsh or Lara, and the names like Cottrell, Garbriel and Braithwaite won’t strike fear into any South Africans minds, nor sadly put bums in seats at stadia.
South Africa have dominated Test matches against West Indies in the 20 seasons the two sides have faced each other, losing just three out of 25 Tests and winning on 16 occasions.
Such lopsided figures have meant that this summer there seems to be very little excitement ahead of the only Test matches of the season. No-one seems to be expecting much of a contest and in fact most reckon that barring rain, the Tests won’t last much beyond the fourth day.
West Indies has been through several rebuilding phases, tinkered with their first class competitions and continue to produce good young talent. But that talent is more and more suited to limited overs cricket especially T20s.
They’ve won a world cup in that format and supply the lucrative Indian Premier League with some of that competition’s most exciting players.
However, their Test cricket has suffered in the last decade – instead of the turnaround many had anticipated in the early 2000s, they appear to have plummeted even further. Of 33 Test series they’ve played in the last 10 years, they’ve won just seven times – four of those against Bangladesh and just one against a member of the ‘big three’ when they defeated England in 2009.
The South African players of course shouldn’t succumb to complacency. There is a much more important event at the end of the summer, but the three Tests against the Windies represent a crucial part of the season.
Tests are so rare for South Africa these days – they would have played just eight in 2014 – that taking their foot of the gas because opponents are regarded as inferior, just won’t occur.
The onus is on the West Indies to show they are not here to be stomped on and that some of the changes in their first class structure are positive. - The Star