Johannesburg - All around the Kensington Oval you are reminded of the rich history of West Indies cricket. The Ends are named in honour of Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.
There are stands dedicated to the three W's (Clyde Walcott, Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes), while outside the ground you will be greeted by statute of arguably the greatest of West Indies players, Garfield Sobers, posing for eternity at the completion of a characteristically lavish off-drive.
The venue for this evening’s all-or-nothing match between the West Indies and South Africa is one of the most storied of cricket grounds but the history celebrated there has often times been a millstone around the necks of subsequent generations of West Indies players.
The current West Indies coach Phil Simmons is careful about reflecting too much on that region’s glorious past, instead seeking to focus more on the current squad defining its own era.There’s been success in the T20 arena while the World Cup victory for the Under-19 team suggests a future that is bright.
For the here and now, however, as Simmons seeks to get the team back amongst the best in the game, he needs the current group, led by Jason Holder, to carve out a win tonight as they seek to climb up the ICC One-Day table.
The West Indies, currently in seventh, will miss out on next year’s ICC Champions Trophy, an illustration of the depths to which they’ve plummeted in the last two decades.
The tournament is only open to the top eight nations and at deadline for qualification the West Indies were ranked ninth.
Simmons has set the very reasonable goal of getting higher up that table.
It’s a tangible target for Holder and Co, which is why getting into Sunday’s final against Australia is so important.South Africa has been tinkering with the make-up of their team throughout the competition, making for consideration for conditions as well as injuries.
They may still not know their best team but they’ll hope they can repeat the kind of performance produced the last time they played West Indies.That match was nine days ago and they’ve played just one over since.
Nevertheless, the blueprint for that triumph is one they’ll be hoping to follow again tonight.Conditions at the Kensington Oval - where the bounce is steeper and the pace quicker - mean the two spinner strategy utilised in St Kitts and Guyana will be done away with and Morne Morkel - picked for the rained out game against Australia - should be in the starting side.
There was still no word on the fitness of Holder, who strained a hamstring in the West Indies’ defeat against Australia, and remains a doubtful starter.
The Star