First of all, I am only a spectator who has listened to West Indies cricket on the radio since the late 1960's and the 1970's.

What we all saw on TV of the first test match between Australia and the West Indies was Australia playing cricket the way they do while the West Indies batsmen were trying to play English Cricket.

Now there is nothing wrong with English cricket, the English know how to play their game to win. The frustration comes in when a West Indian is a professional and in the middle of his pro career tries to learn to play like someone else.

The West Indies team will not win test matches if they try to change their style of playing cricket.

Does the Brazilian Football team win World Cups by playing football like someone else. No, it does not. They win by playing the way they grew up playing.

West Indians grow up playing cricket by first trying to knock the fur off of a tennis ball until it had no fur or until it burst, then we will try to get another one and do the same thing all over again. We called it WIND BALL.

The purpose was to throw it as hard as possible and to hit it as hard as possible. Then when we got old enough, we got to play the game with the hard red leather ball, however, the game was still the same, bowl as fast as possible and hit the ball as hard as possible until it lost the red shine, then keep hitting it until the seam broke or the sewing started to unravel and the ball was no good anymore.

The West Indies teams of the 1970's won test matches by attacking the bowling of the other team. Back in those days England, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka had good bowlers also but the West Indian batsmen hardly paid attention to it because their main focus was to beat the shine off the ball until the next "new ball" came so that our fast bowlers could bowl bouncers with it.

If you think of, there is nothing wrong with having a "One Track Mind" when batting in a test match, because the bowlers of the other team are coming down the run-up to either polish your helmet or polish the wickets with the ball. If you just stand there, the ball will polish itself on your white clothes.

In other words, you either hit the ball or get hit by it.

Come on guys, if you're on the field in Australia, with a bat in your hand, in a test match playing against Australia and you are wearing white clothes, you are not a spectator or an Umpire, you are IN THE GAME TO HIT THE BALL, GET HIT BY IT or to get called OUT.

West Indian cricketers in Australia this message is for you :

Go down the pitch and hit the ball, if the bowler drops it too short you will have enough time to hook it over the boundary or into the stands. The Australians will cheer for you even if you are beating their team. Cricket fans are there to see the best performance you can produce.

After smacking the ball to every corner of the ground you will begin to see the big gaps between the fielders and then you will begin to enjoy your batting. In the back of your mind you will begin to smile when the bowler gives you another one to hit.

Let's face it, whatever you did in the past with the bat or with the ball has no bearing on what you can do in the next test match.

There are 2 more test matches to play and there is still time to speak with the 'old guys', Sobers, Lloyd, Richards and ask them how sweet it felt to hit the ball when the bowler has his back to the wall.

Lara : blocking the ball and being on the defensive will not get you back in 'form'. Bat like if you are batting in a one-day International, go down the pitch and hammer the bowling. The confidence of the team will improve if they see your natural aggressive batting style.

It's all about enjoying playing the game the way West Indians play it. Give us something to enjoy looking at.

For the West Indian bowlers : BOWL AT THE STUMPS, BOWL THE BALL LIKE IF THE BATSMAN IS NOT THERE, let the Australian batsmen make their own mistakes and you will get them out, one by one.

Fielding : There are lots of other guys in the West Indies who will be willing to dive to stop a shot or make an all-out effort to catch the ball, but everybody can't be in the game at the same time. Making a greater effort actually improves your skills, you will never know how good you can be if you don't give your best effort.

For the West Indian captain ( Chanderpaul ) : There is no 'Orthodox' way of setting the field to get the batsmen out, make your fielding adjustment to capitalize on the weakness of the batman or the strength of your bowlers. Go with your 'gut feeling' when setting the field and use the entire rule book to your team's advantage. Your bowlers may not be always be as accurate as you would like them to be, encourage the fielders to anticipate what the batmen are going to do.

Let's have fun while winning the last test match, you have nothing to loose.