Winning is infectious

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The cricketing world is stunned.
The international cricketing community remains more than a little disconcerted.
The critics have, at least momentarily, been silenced.
The Caribbean is ecstatic.
The West Indies cricket team has certainly provided Caribbean peoples everywhere in the world with much to cheer over the past several weeks and it must feel good.
For so long the team was slumped in the game of cricket that any victory would have brought about immense euphoria among our peoples. That the team should defeat the equally lowly-ranked Zimbabwe and then follow this up with an upset victory over the highly ranked India in the One Day series must have left us all totally ecstatic.
Of course there were those who saw things differently.
In Trinidad and Tobago one man said that the West Indies team should have been charged with child abuse for the way they so soundly whipped the Zimbabweans.
Many thought that it would have been a significantly different matter when the Indians arrived in the Caribbean. They bemoaned the tragedy that was expected to unfold as we were supposed to be just as easily defeated in both the One Day and the Test series.
As faith would have it, the gods smiled upon us all and the West Indies team led by the oft-beleaguered Brian Lara, emerged comfortable champions of the One Day series against the powerful Indian team.
More than anything else, with the hype around the region in preparation for the hosting of the Cricket World Cup next year, the West Indies cricket team has suddenly begun to look like contenders.

The One Day series versus India
When the first One Day International took place in Jamaica the crowds, having recognised that the West Indies seemed to be undergoing some sort of change, turned out in huge numbers to support Lara and the other players.
As the final over was being bowled and the West Indies found themselves in with a very slim chance of victory, the crowds warmed to the occasion and yelled in support.
Of course the team lost that first match.
Following the defeat there were the regular critics who hastily noted that we should not have expected anything different.
Closer examination of the nature of the defeat, however, revealed that for the first time in many years the West Indies appeared to have shown that they can be truly competitive. The result was close and this even with players having failed to hold on to some vital catches off the Indians.
The team displayed some cohesion and a desire to fight for victory.