The West Indies can already take pride in a fine job but a Trinidad win would top it all, says Michael Holding.
England have no option but to step up, says Mikey
The West Indies can already take pride in a job well done but victory in the Trinidad Test would top it all.
Chris Gayle's side is in the happy position of being unable to lose the series and I must credit the players for their resilience.
They fought back in Antigua when they had their backs to the wall and when they were faced with a very intimidating first-innings target in Barbados they passed it - so don't tell me the side lacks spirit.
England remain the team under pressure and quite a few of their players are still struggling, either with form or fitness. They are the ones who have a serious point to prove.
Result
The good news is that in recent times Trinidad has produced results and I expect this to continue; I'm sure the ground staff will strive to prepare a pitch on which the better team will win.
I don't think the strip in Barbados was meant to be as flat as it turned out - that is just what happened. If there had been a touch more grass on it I think we would have had a result.
As it turned out the surface was definitely biased towards the batsmen and there was only one bowler with sufficient pace to extract any assistance from it - Fidel Edwards. He was the only man in the match who bothered the batsmen on a regular basis.
The Barbadian impressed me throughout the match; almost every spell that he bowled was very, very fast. He was unfortunate in the first innings that the fielders did not support him because had the West Indies taken their chances it could have been a different game altogether.
I'm not advocating the need for a specialist coach here - after all, I don't remember the great West Indian fielding sides requiring such assistance; no, the answer is practice and plenty of hard work, as well as concentration in the field.
Solid
One player on a special run of form is Ramnaresh Sarwan, who is showing a great deal more maturity these days.
The interesting thing was that England clearly decided they were going to attack him with short balls, bowl around the wicket with a loaded leg side and target his body.
Previously he would have tried to take them on, pull out the hook and get out early; but he is now showing good mental strength and a solid technique.
I wouldn't say that England's tactics were wrong - they used what they thought would work at the time, but Sarwan proved he had the ability to counter them.
Consistency
We also witnessed a welcome change in fortunes for Denesh Ramdin. Early on in his Test career he struck a half-century and showed that he could bat and on more than several occasions since he has looked a more than competent batsman. So I don't think too many people can say they were surprised to see him post a maiden century.
It is a great achievement but now he must work on his consistency and make sure that he gets runs most times that he bats.
I didn't think much of his paper-waving celebration upon reaching three figures but the Caribbean is a show area, so I guess that's what you expect.
In fact, the entire game is now a show. What next? Printed messages on t-shirts as we see in football? I don't see how you are going to stop it because I can't see the ICC getting involved.
Everything seems to be for show these days; look at the players on the balcony with their drinks beside them or some other form of advertising - it's blatant but just reflects the way the world has gone.
