By Tony Becca - On The Boundary 
THE THREE-match Cable & Wireless one-day series between the West Indies and Sri Lanka is over. Sri Lanka won 2-1 and, not surprisingly, the home team won, not the first, not the second, but the last one after the visitors had clinched the series by winning the first two.
Although some have expressed a bit of sympathy for a team boasting a number of young, inexperienced players, the fans, generally, are disappointed. As far as they are concerned, the West Indies should have won not one, not two, but all three. In other words, instead of losing 2-1, they should have won 3-0.
The fans simply cannot see how the West Indies could have dismissed Sri Lanka for 201 in a 50-over match and lose, and more so, how they could have piled up 312, set the opposition a run-rate of 6.26 per over, over 50 overs and lose.
With the batting, from which so much is expected, failing once, and the bowling and fielding, from which not much is expected, failing once, that, however, is exactly what happened.
The failure of the batsmen against an attack led by a class bowler like Chaminda Vaas was not really surprising. As weak as the bowling is, however, and but for a bit of brilliance here and there, as weak as the fielding is, to lose after scoring 312 was not only surprising. It was also embarrassing - particularly as Sri Lanka's batting is not as powerful as it used to be, and especially as the West Indies attack was led not by rookies but by Mervyn Dillon, Corey Collymore and Vasbert Drakes who have been around for some time and should be experienced enough to protect themselves.
Although the one victory came when the pressure was off the team and was nothing but a consolation, two players came out with flying colours. One was pacer Jerome Taylor, the other was batsman Marlon Samuels.
Playing in his first match at the tender age of 18 and without much experience, Taylor, who took two wickets for 39 runs off his 10 overs, was impressive.
As the great Courtney Walsh said when asked about the young man's debut, he did everything right. "He did not try to bowl too fast," said Walsh. "He bowled a good pace, he bowled a good line and a good length, and that is what you want a young fast bowler to do when he is starting."
What was really impressive, however, was his composure. As talented, as good as they are, some players crack under pressure - and there is hardly any greater pressure than that which comes during one's debut.
Taylor did not crack when he first represented Jamaica a few months ago, as young as he is, as excited as he must have been to be selected to represent the West Indies so quickly - and in a one-day match at that, Taylor did not crack and, apart from his skills with the ball, that suggests he is someone special.
As a batsman, Samuels is someone special - no doubt about that. As he demonstrated against Australia in far away Australia when he was called up as a 19-year-old, Samuels is so cool that he does not crack under pressure.
Samuels has had a problem, however. The problem is that he is so cool that sometimes, with the bat and in the field, he looks like he is not trying and whenever he fails with the bat, whenever he mis-fields or drops a catch, it looks bad. In fact, that is why those who believe he has so much talent that he should be one of the big guns in a short while have been so disappointed in him.
On Wednesday in St. Vincent, however, Samuels paraded a different Samuels - and having done it before, having produced some brilliant and explosive innings before, although he struck three wonderful sixes while scoring 45 off 38 deliveries after going to bat with the West Indies under a bit of pressure, it had nothing to do with his batting.
It had to do with his fielding. He was sharp from the first ball and the two run outs by direct hits and the catch to dismiss Dharmasena were simply brilliant.
That is the Samuels that the fans want to see, that is the Samuels that will fulfil his vast potential and that is the Samuels that should become not only a great batsman but a great cricketer.
Once again, the West Indies failed to win when it mattered and won when it really did not matter. During that victory, however, a young newcomer demonstrated that he has class and, as far as his approach to the game is concerned, one not so young, one who obviously is blessed with a special gift, hinted that he had come to grips with what is necessary to become a class player.
