Chris Cairns: Once feared and revered Windies look directionless

With a 4-1 series win achieved by the Black Caps, this West Indian cricket team currently seems like the geographical location of the Islands they represent - spread out, isolated and individual.

There's no quick fix to this problem as it seems to have been going on for some time. Once the revered team of a hostile quartet of supreme fast bowling, aligned with batsmen capable of dominating any attack and lead by powerful men with mana, this current team has lost the ability to win. Whose fault?

Well, sure, the players have an enormous amount to do with it as ultimately they are the ones on the field entrusted with the torch to win for the West Indies but, to my mind, it runs way deeper than what the players show us on the surface.

There has been talk of Shivnarine Chanderpaul's leadership but remember he doesn't choose to be captain - he is appointed. The appointment is wrong. Chanderpaul is a world-class batsman who is an introverted, shy character not comfortable in the limelight. He doesn't seem to be able to ignite his team to become a team. More importantly, his batting is suffering as a result.

Mark Taylor, the former Australian skipper, always said he was a batsman first and a captain second. The West Indies are getting neither from Chanderpaul.

The appointment of an Australian coach and management staff doesn't seem to be working but, again, if you look deeper, how much power does coach Bennett King have?

Are the selectors accountable for their decision-making that has been going on throughout this period, which sees the West Indies having lost the last 19 of 21 internationals? What is their vision for bringing players through the youth system, what are they being taught?

It was sad to see a once-dominant force limp through the match as they did in Napier on Wednesday and forego any chance to win, content to allow a player the chance to gain a hollow hundred.

As much as there are serious issues within West Indies cricket, the Black Caps need to be applauded. The unearthing of talent has been on the agenda for some time but the fruits of this exercise are really starting to pay off now.

Depth is being created and pressure to perform is being generated. The Black Caps will be conscious of performance but there is a real hunger to keep succeeding. With a test Tour to South Africa looming, the West Indies test series is paramount for getting systems and processes right.

The South Africans will remind the Black Caps that it was only in October that they didn't slip up and enjoyed a clean sweep.
 
-HERALD ON SUNDAY