By Tony Cozier
In Antigua
The reasons and excuses, basically one and the same, for England’s defeat in the Sabina Test have been as many as the 51 for which they were despatched in their second innings of the first test of the 2009 Digicel Series which ended on Saturday.
The repercussions of the pre-tour leadership squabble that led to the dismissal of coach Peter Moores and the replacement of Kevin Pietersen as captain is the most prominent.
The envy fostered within the camp by the US$1.55 million pocketed by the two premier players, Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction on the third day of the match runs a close second.
Former England captain Mike Atherton, like so many other retired players covering the series for press and television, perceived an “unhappy” team that lacked strong leadership.
Apart from the IPL conumdrum, another ex-captain, Graham Gooch, complained that the two build-up matches against St.Kitts/Nevis and West Indies ‘A’ were inadequate preparation for a Test series.
(The West Indies, it should be noted, were given a solitary three-day match against Somerset, reduced to half-day by the weather, prior to the first Test in England in 2007).
Someone else grumbled that England’s players were “too pally” with their West Indies opponents on the field .
Complacency against underestimated opponents was inevitably seen as another source of the trouble that followed.
This series, remember, was mooted as simply a warm-up exercise for the summer’s clash for the Ashes.
Global warming, the international financial crisis and the arctic weather back home might well have come into the reckoning, for all we know.
The snow storms, after all, delayed David Gower’s arrival for his Sky assignment by a day.
In the circumstances, eagle eyes were opened wide to any sign of potential disruption. One appeared especially instructive.
On Saturday night, hours after their demolition at Sabina, Pietersen was in the midst of celebrating with the West Indies players around the pool bar of the Pegasus Hotel.
He was the only one of his humiliated team in sight. The others were back at their base, the nearby Hilton Hotel. According to Derek Pringle, another former England player in media guise, most were holed up in their rooms.
“Just how deeply Andrew Strauss’s team have been affected by their defeat was evident by the scenes around the team hotel…a few were spotted in the hotel foyer but most locked themselves away unable to face a world whose questions they are not sure they can answer.”
Captain Strauss, and interim coach Andy Flower have been at pains to reject assertions that negative fall-out from Pietersen’s replacement and Moores’ sacking had created disharmony in the ranks.
Pietersen’s appearance in the rivals’ camp while his team mates grieved away from the limelight might have been simply an expression of his sportsmanship.
His generosity of spirit had been revealed by his beaming bear hug of Chris Gayle, a personal friend, on the Sabina outfield within minutes of the loss of the Test.
Whatever faults the English media see in him, mean spiritedness is not one. He is, reportedly, usually the first in the opposition’s after a match.
Given the sudden desolation of his team’s defeat just hours earlier, all out for their third lowest total in all Tests, and the continuing speculation over the fallout from his demotion from the captaincy, this was an occasion when he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It equated with the thoughtlessness of the four West Indian players who ventured into the partying Red Stripe Mound at the same Sabina five years ago after they were part of a similar debacle, swept aside by England for 47, the lowest West Indies’ total in history.
It was widely seen at the time as an indication of the malaise at the heart of West Indies cricket. Those involved – Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Tino Best and Adam Sanford – pleaded that they were naïve.
Pietersen might claim now that he was doing what he normal does at the end of a match. This one was far from normal.