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Wrong. In hindsight, I should have just switched off and gone to bed as soon as Gayle and Sarwan were dismissed early doors. What was subsequently dished up for the next 46 overs was an absolute waste of time (apart from a brief cameo from the admirable Bravo). It showed total contempt for the viewing public. It was an exercise in cynicism to watch a team just bat 50 overs with no genuine intention of trying to win. At a time when the 50 over game is under threat from the T20 mania that is sweeping the game, the West Indies did everything possible to undermine the integrity of international ODI cricket.

More to the point, it made me realise that Dyson probably has no influence on team tactics or has no idea of what it means. I’m not sure who controls the dynamic in the dressing room but whoever it is, Gayle or Dyson, they are clearly out of their depth when it comes to understanding what it takes to try to win a game of cricket. Or they just don’t care. Perhaps both.

Chanderpaul’s innings, after a brisk start, disintegrated into something that almost defied belief. In the context of an asking rate that never got below 6.5 runs per over, his performance was almost like he was making a silent protest at being left to shoulder the batting responsibilities yet again. It’s not like he was trying to smash the ball and kept missing – no, he just went through a 25 over patch when he made no effort to do anything but push singles. It was astounding to watch the required rate climbing whilst Chanderpaul, capable of playing some stunning shots, seemingly oblivious to the game situation. Even Denesh Ramdin who scored at run-a-ball and has a more limited arsenal of strokes was too slow in the context of a run rate that required much more intent than pushing singles.

The final straw for one sleepy, grumpy spectator on a winter’s night in Australia was to keep waiting for the final powerplay in the hope that it would spark some sort of action. My justification for refusing to go to bed was twisted logic: having stayed up this long, I’d be disappointed if old Chanders exploded in the powerplay (as we know he can) and I missed it. So I waited. And waited. And waited.

I’m still struggling to understand Dyson or Gayle’s rationale for delaying the powerplay until the run rate was almost 12 runs per over. Perhaps they had honestly gone beyond caring. It’s been a tough, cold tour and maybe they’ve just lost interest. What other explanation can there be for rational, intelligent people to be blind to the bleeding obvious. What possible reason could there have been for not taking the powerplay earlier when it was a mere 8 runs per over and there was even the faintest hope of changing the momentum of the game?

As it turned out, my 6 year old son heard the television in the lounge room and sleepily crawled into my lap and watched about ten minutes of the game before asking me: “Dad, why haven’t they taken the powerplay yet? Are they really trying to win?”

It took him just ten minutes to figure it out. I wish I’d asked him earlier!

Hi Mark Shhehan. Thanks for your comments and I respect your view. I'm also glad you enjoyed it. If this was a World Cup game where net run rate mattered, I could have seen the point of batting out the 50 overs but for them to just meander along with no real plan to win the game after Gayle was dismissed was disappointing to me. And I'm still unclear as to why they would wait so late to take the PP. Even for those watching at the ground, did you not wonder why they kept delaying their only (albeit far-fetched) hope of possibly turning the game around? When Chanders and Ramnarine were just pushing ones to the cover sweeper when the asking rate was 10, what was the point? It makes me wonder if all ODI's should have some sort of bonus point incentive to keep the interest going (eg: world rankings based on margin of loss). Anyhow, I wasn't there and I'm glad you enjoyed it. It looked a bit cold in the stands despite the sunshine. Was it a bit chilly?

Some wonderfully talented West Indian cricketers, Bravo, Ramdin, Sarwan, Benny, not to mention the top class veterans in Gayle and Chanderpaul, seem to be being let down by poor attitude, organisation and discipline. Judging from the tour of the Carribean, this apathy seems to go right through from the very top to the very grass roots. The malaise seems to hint at something rotten in the very core of WI cricket. I hope it will be sorted out soon. Cricket needs to be popularised there again. It seems the American glitz sports are putting cricket, the best game in the world, in the shade. A real loss to everyone.
For England the opposite, good attitude, organisation and discipline, just a couple of top quality bowlers short. A 2005 ashes fit Flintoff and Jones would make us a top team. Pity about the injuries, especially Jones', looked a potentially world beating bowler. Still, exploiting home pitches and conditions should even the playing field. Problems will come away.

The problem with West Indies cricket in that they do not seem to have the motivation to succeed at the international level anymore. They got the taste of big money in th Stanford extavaganza and feel that they do not need the money which conventional cricket offers them. Unfortunately for them Sir Adam is in some trouble himself for which reason he cannot be of much help to West Indian cricket till he is out of this mess. West Indies needs an iconic captain like Frank Worrell was who was as much a great cricketer as he was a towering personality otherwise. He was able to make a team of individuals into a great team and laid the foundation for nearly 3 decades of domination by West Indies. In my opinion a bif sponsor can make te differnce to a team that is affected by indifference. I have loved West Indies cricket and refuse to believe that they are not good enough.

Couple of observations.
1. Shiv, Sarwan and many others do not make millions. In fact, Siv, Sarwan and a few others never got their million $$ from Stanford.
2. This series was not originally in the WI plan. The players were too tired for Test and ODI's after just completing and winning the test series at home. There was bound to be a letdown playing and defending the wisden trophy so soon after.
3. They were askes to play early in a VERY COLD England - something that very few of them have experienced (not many of them play county Cricket in Eng).
4. Ask Why did SL pull out and that maybe the clue as to why WI also should not have played.
5. As a West Indian diehard fan, I did not care for this series. What is a 2 Test series anyway? This whole thing was a concoction for an England win to boost the Ashes series. WI were the sacrificial lambs.
6. Australia played NZ and lost (couple of years ago) the same as WI just did - because "they were tired." No one complained then.

Sorry that you lost some sleep. Chanders just did what he has done for some time, play for Cahnders average and stats. He pays little attention to what the team needs he just intends to bat and build his average which matches Viv Richards! Batting with the tail he exposes them many times so that he remains notout. His reputation as a "great" batsman is sadly misplaced.
The WI blame everyone but the team which is the only entity actually playing cricket. I believe that with Gayle as captain there is little that Dyson can do to influence decisions. His job is fruitless yet he will be blamed for the team failures like those in his position before him. It must be the worst job in world cricket.

everyone is saying why chanderpaul didnt up the run rate but wickets were fallin @ d other end,wat else is he supposed 2 do?jus hit out & let windies get bowled out for 50?after all,its about saving face if u cant win.shivnarine chanderpaul is one of the greatest cricketers that quite often get cricised for batting 2 slow but for the last decade,he's always come in after a very brief blitz from gayle & a failure from his other opening partner & he's always had the burden of rebuilding.when marlon samuels comes back 2 windies side im sure chanderpaul wil open the batting wit gayle & we'll all see why this man has the 4th fastest test century & also the man that recently smashed 26 runs off an hapless steve harmison over right here in guyana.everyone wil see the blitzing chanderpaul in this year's T20 World Cup