Tony Cozier

– New Zealand win fifth ODI by nine runs to take series 2-1 A TOUR typified by the contrasting magnificence of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the fraility of their inexperienced team-mates, the indiscipline of others and the constant presence of rain came to an apt but unsatisfactory end for the West Indies at McLean Park here yesterday.

ANOTHER New Zealand batsman took advantage of the West Indies’ unintentional, but seemingly unavoidable, generosity to help himself to a hundred in his first international match yesterday.

A SUPPORT staff of manager, head coach, assistant coach, trainer, strength conditioner, physiotherapist and analyst is now attached to the West Indies team.

THE West Indies will turn to the ever reliable Shivnarine Chanderpaul in an effort to solve their chronic opening partnership problem in the fourth ODI against New Zealand at Eden Park here tomorrow (tonight east Caribbean time).

– Inept batting, faulty catching and error-prone umpiring feature in West Indies’ seven- wicket loss to New Zealand THE West Indies won only two of their 15 ODIs against credible opposition last year.

IT was the tour for the players of the future to establish themselves.

IT was a finale that put the maxim the right way round for a change.

Head coach John Dyson has said it, so has captain Chris Gayle but, in case the younger players in the team didn’t hear, Ramnaresh Sarwan has stressed the point once again.

The headline in the Weekend Herald here precisely summed up the bizarre result of the 20/20 International at Eden Park in Auckland on Boxing Day.

CLYDE BUTTS may have left New Zealand too early. One of the chief selector’s objectives on his assignment during the early part of the West Indies tour was, in his words, “to observe how the players adapt to various situations in the middle.”

The chorus of “I told you so” were audible even as far away as New Zealand.

The inconsistency, individual indiscipline, general lethargy and lack of leadership that have combined to drag West Indies cricket down to where it presently stands were in embarrassing evidence on the third day of the second Test at McClean Park yesterday.

ANY number of factors and incidents over the five days of a Test match influence its direction and eventual outcome but there is often one that stands out above all others.

A pair of left-handers, alike in body and soul but separated by 112 Tests of experience, came to the rescue of another faltering West Indies innings on the opening day of the second and final Test at McLean Park here yesterday.

There is a familiar figure among the travelling entourage of support staff with the West Indies team in New Zealand.

THE battle for Test cricket’s wooden spoon has moved from the Arctic gloom of Dunedin to the warmth and Caribbean sunshine of Napier – and the shift in the balance between the teams prior to the second Test is just as stark.

They both earned wickets through it they would not otherwise have gotten.

In DUNEDIN Jerome Taylor’s exceptional hundred in the first Test here Sunday has set standards for all aspiring West Indies’ bowlers to follow.

– Jerome Taylor was made aware of his full capabilities with the bat by West  Indies coach John Dyson.

It is not only the New Zealand cricket team that will confront the West Indies in the first Test, starting here tomorrow (tonight East Caribbean time).