Trekking back to Respectability

Chrab is leading the Windies to reattain the heights of Mt. Respectability, last occupied under courtney Walsh. Over the last couple of seasons, the Chrab has been one of the most prolific Test batsmen - with an average of 74, scoring in this period a fifth of his runs in a career that goes back to 1994. This period coincides with Lara's slow walk into the sunset, and there is no doubt that the man from Guyana has reignited the trek when his expedition looked destined to stay in the Dark Valley of Sad Bastards.

He has been ably assisted by the man who is now his captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan who is fit after a string of injuries that made him look like a Jellybean, and the loss of form that saw him sit out of the team in Pakistan. His last eight scores, dating back to late March when the Windies received the Lankans at home, read: 128, 65, 12, 7, 102, 57, 72, 80.

It has been repeated ad nauseum: the Windies cannot always depend on Chrab, Gayle and Sarwan to stay afloat. Disco Dwayne needs to become a better number 6 batsman. He is doing just about alright on these sleepy West Indian pitches, but his baby-soft dismissal yesterday when Sarwan had practically taken them all the way, left the door open for a sneaky Sydney-style re-entry. Smith and Runako need to do better, at least on these pitches - uneven or not. If they don't the musical chairs with Ganga will coninue.

I wont talk about the Windies bowling, not only because I am lazy, but also because we're talking mere respectability. Once those heights are attained, they can talk about the pace battery, and decent spinners and think about Mt. Compete.