The manner in which it occured was un-anticipated. In fact, having beaten Australia earlier, it was just a matter of doing it again, this time; for all the marbles. Not only the West Indian pundits but the entire team must have been shell-shocked after the debacle.

It is time for the West Indies Cricket Board to realize that discipline, temperament, talent, politics and a host of other idiosyncracies may be the least of the symptons presently affecting our level of success.

Excuses will abound and most if not all of them will skirt the real culprit. In recapturing the match, we started out flailing at everything the opposing bowlers had to offer even before settling in. And to the delight of our supporters, we appeared to have Australia on the run.

The tables turned rather quickly and suddenly it was the Australians who were now on the offensive. The pittance that we offered was no match for their patience. The Australians took their time even as we returned two of their batsmen for a mere handful. I would rate the talent as comparable, but on the issue of intelligence, the Australians on that day; were superior. Intelligence is a formidable adversary, don't you think.