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Yes we can
Chris Gayle
By Rawle Welch
When West Indies Captain Chris Gayle and his men walk onto Sabina Park tomorrow to play the first of four tests against England, most West Indian fans will be hoping that the now famous quote that US President Barack Obama made during his victory speech resonate in the collective consciousness of the team.
The persuasive and obviously much adored President told the Americans “yes we can” in reference to those who doubted whether America was still a place where all things are possible. He told them that his victory has answered their questions.
After holding the mantle of undisputed champions of world cricket for one and a half decades (1980-95), West Indies now find themselves one place from the bottom in the longer version of the game, while they currently occupy the eighth position in the one-day rankings, a far cry from the days of glory when we literally decapitated all and sundry presented before us.
Obama in his speech cleverly used the three words to infuse hope in a nation that was beset with a multitude of problems due to poor performances from the then ruling administration and business executives that has not only left their economy in tatters, but the world as well.
This is the same scenario that West Indian cricket and its loyal fans have found themselves in, and even the recent little flicker of hope that was evident during the New Zealand Series where the team fought gallantly for positive results that itself must be taken with guarded optimism when the level of the opposition is taken into consideration.
There were some bright spots, but that came only from the already established stars and the failure of the younger players to create an impact on the tour must be a source of disappointment to the coaching staff and all those die-hard supporters.
It was the perfect opponent to launch your career against; the present Kiwis side just like ours is also reeling from some dismal performances.
Again, just like the West Indies, they too have a lot of young players who are now in the early stages of their international careers, but unlike us, a few of them did well.
The Englishmen have arrived in the Caribbean with the stated intention of using this tour and the one to follow immediately after as warm-ups for the upcoming Ashes Series against Australia at home in the summer, but their bowlers appeared to struggle against the West Indies ‘A’ team in their first real tour match.
Barack Obama
Gayle, who is usually a straight talking individual must now look to rally his troops in the same manner as Obama has done with the American nation and many other citizens across the world. He must be able to say to them that even though we are rated below the English side and despite our less than encouraging returns against them in recent years, “yes we can.”
The explosive left-handed opening batsman has been in imperious form recently and along with the world No.1 rated batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the experienced Ramnaresh Sarwan must understand that they will need to be the ‘bedrock’ for West Indies if they aim to post challenging totals for batsmen with the calibre of sacked captain Kevin Pietersen, current Captain Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood and others to chase.
The ‘big’ Jamaican must also ensure that the West Indies get off to a positive start in the series and send a strong signal to the Englishmen that defeating us in our own backyard is an extremely formidable task.
The positive news is that the young brigade that the English bowlers encountered in the tour match never allowed the visitors any time to get confident and adjusted to conditions in the Caribbean as they set about plundering them to all parts of the Warner Park facility in St. Kitts.
As veteran Sports Writer Tony Cozier wrote in a recent column, it provided a timely boost of confidence for the West Indies ahead of the opening test.
To take a quote from famous American comedian Bill Cosby, “the past is a ghost, the future is a dream. All we ever have is now.”
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