Some cricket fans may suggest that the West Indies are back to square one - the same ol' West Indies when watching them play typically makes for a painful experience. I am not among those who would want to write off the West Indies and complain that the old West Indies reared its head again but yes, I concur that it was a diabolical display of inept batting and to score 97 and 162 runs in a test match is wholly unacceptable.
It is important to provide context here and retrace some important steps before the series began.
The West Indies had played two good series - one away against Bangladesh and the other against Sri Lanka at home in Antigua. South Africa, on the other hand, has had a serious decline in their test rankings and this decline has been laid solely at the feet of their batsmen who have collectively crossed 300 runs just twice in their last 15 Test innings before this recent test in St Lucia.
Perhaps it was easy to assume that the West Indies would come into this series brimming with confidence and holding a firm belief that they could take care of a South African team missing some of their great players who have retired. In addition to that, an opposition batting lineup with a few debutants may well be shy of confidence. In essence, skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and his team could not have asked for a better script.
The strength of this South African team was in their seamers. I raised a warning in my column last week to be wary of the pace, bounce and seam of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje. Unfortunately, they paid no attention to this seemingly obvious prospect and suffered severe consequences.
It started with the toss. Now let me make it clear; a pitch must be judged on the morning of a game. A captain then decides whether he/she will bat or bowl first but there are other factors one must take into consideration - the weather, the perceived strength and weakness of the opposition and the composition of your own team.
Many captains in international cricket would opt to bat on winning the toss at every given opportunity and there are times when losing the toss and leaving the opposing captain to make the decision might very well work in one's favour. I certainly felt winning the toss and batting was the first mistake the West Indies made. The pitch would have had some grass covering as well as some preparation moisture on the first day. The West Indies players would have played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in their practice game and saw the seam bowlers getting some movement and bounce from the pitch so more of the same should have been expected on the first day.
Indeed, more than just grass covering and preparation moisture in the pitch had to be taken into account. The opposition had three world-class seamers and their batting was going to rely on skipper Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and an out of form Quinton de Kock. My initial thoughts as a captain would be that the first day of the first test away from home provides an opportunity to get at your opposition and give them no time to assess the pitch; get their batsmen sitting nervously in the pavilion ensuring their debutants sweat profusely before they come out to face the music.
Could it be that with only three quickies including youngster Jayden Seales, skipper Brathwaite was not confident of dismissing the Proteas cheaply? Personally, I would have headed into the Test match with Seales, Kemar Roach, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph and if the selectors had opted for Roston Chase, then Rahkeem Cornwall would have had to sit out. To be frank, West Indies got it all wrong before the first ball was bowled and Rabada and the team were licking their lips.
Having written all of the above, this is test cricket and no matter what happens, when you make an error of judgement, your skill and fighting spirit simply have to shine through. Unfortunately, the West Indies batsmen just could not cope with the swinging ball. This was a situation where batsmen had to grind the bowlers down but in many cases, the application was sadly lacking. These were world-class bowlers bowling with swing, pace and bounce and in addition, the South Africans' slip catching was superb. They took some 13 catches from the wicket-keeper to gully only spilling one chance. Their out cricket was exceptional.
When South Africa batted, there was some hope to maybe dismiss them for around the 150-mark but de Kock, who is a class player, finally found his form and played a true test inning - batted with caution, dispatched the bad ball and accelerated at the right time. West Indies sorely missed a fourth front line seamer.
The batting performance of the West Indies in the second innings was slightly better only because Roston Chase batted with conviction. But again, some of the other batsmen have to quickly adjust to the South African pacers or they will again find themselves in problems. I will not write this West Indies team off just yet and still maintain that the South Africa batting lineup is not a great one. Some cheap early wickets can expose the likes of de Kock to the new ball and if he goes early, the rest of the batting appears brittle.
This second test which starts tomorrow at the same venue in my view is going to be a bowlers game. If the West Indies selectors get the 11 starters correct, they can certainly give the South Africans more than they would bargain for. If the likes of Shai Hope, Brathwaite and company can get starts and build an innings with the West Indies scoring between 250 - 275 runs, a very interesting test match may be on display.
The toss is again going to hold the key as I expect the pitch to play the identical way unless the ground curator has been given instructions to take off more grass and to lessen the moisture content of the pitch. After the batting display in the first test, I understand it is difficult for fans to have faith in this West Indies batting lineup. But, they do deserve another opportunity to put right what went wrong. They battled against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka when the odds were stacked against them and they pulled through.
You don't have to remind me that this is South Africa and three of the best fast bowlers in world cricket today are running into the bowl against the West Indies. I would have hoped from Sunday to Thursday, the West Indies batsmen prepared to face their toughest test of the year. One can only look forward to a competitive and well-fought test match.
Editor's note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.