CATEGORY:SPORTS
----------------------

By Trevor Thwaites (Inside Grenada correspondent)


GRENADA - Fans are asking – when will it stop? Can we ever return to the glory days of the eighties and early nineties when the West Indies dominated world cricket? West Indians are indeed optimistic that the once mighty West Indies could again be world-beaters. Inconsistency, which has been plaguing the team over the last decade, seems to be never ending. West Indies faltered badly in the final of the DFL tri-nation series in Malaysia, suffering a humiliating 127 run victory on Sunday.

The regional cricketers bowled well to restrict world champions Australia to 240 for 6 in their 50 overs, a total they seemed more than capable of acquiring after scoring more than 270 to beat the Australians in an earlier encounter. Fast bowlers Ian Bradshaw and part- timer Ramnaresh Sarwan both grabbed 2 wickets, while fellow speedster Jerome Taylor took 1 for 36 from his 10 overs to keep the Aussies in check. But as has been happening consistently in recent times, the West Indies again faltered.

They were dismissed for a poultry 113 in 34.2 overs with almost 16 overs to spare, a performance that is one of the most embarrassing in modern day cricket. Skipper Brian Lara must consider himself unlucky to be given out caught at the wicket when the replays showed that the ball did not hit the bat but brushed the pad on its way to the keeper. He continues to be on the receiving end of very controversial decisions. However the West Indies scorecard was most pathetic.

There were four ducks (noughts); it read Gayle o, Morton o, Chanderpaul 11, Lara 5, Bravo 8, Hinds 0, Baugh 3, Smith 30, Bradshaw o and Taylor o. Fast bowler Brett Lee bowled splendidly to capture 4 for 24 from 8.2 overs. He is now being hailed as the best one-day bowler and certainly the fastest on the international scene. He was voted man of the match and also grabbed the award for the player of the series with a haul of 12 wickets.

There was some consolidation for the West Indies with fast bowler Jerome Taylor capturing the second highest number of wickets a total of 8. However, there is concern about fast bowler Fidel Edwards, who over the last year seemed to becoming more consistent with his speed and control. He was dropped for the last three matches. West Indians are nonetheless hopeful that the team will regroup and improve on its weaknesses as it heads to India for the defense of the ICC Trophy starting next month. The West Indies form has deteriorated so badly that despite being the defending champions, they need to qualify for the event with the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.