Crushed! - Monday 25, April-2005 by PHILIP SPOONER

André Nel showing his delight as he traps West Indies skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul leg-before.

There was an historic burial at Kensington Oval yesterday as fast bowler André Nel ripped the heart and soul out of the home side.

The big pacer’s six wickets for 32 runs condemned the West Indies to 166 all out as they lost the third Test by an innings and 86 runs with a day to spare. It gave the South Africans an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

History was created as the West Indies capitulation gave the Proteas their first win at Kensington at their third attempt. When Nel collected the final wicket of Courtney Browne shortly after 4 p.m., there was a huge celebration as he and team-mates embraced each other.

They did several African jigs after some grabbed souvenir stumps and left the arena rejoicing as they retained the Sir Vivian Richards Trophy.

On the other side the 7 000 Windies fans in the stands were stunned and some just left the ground in disgust after their players’ meek surrender. Others just remained in their seats despondent, not even bothering to attend the post-match ceremony.

Reaction has been swift and two former fast bowling legends, Michael Holding and Joel Garner, touched on areas of the game which urgently needed to be addressed.

Holding said the level of discipline in the West Indies camp was a major worry.

“We have a basic lack of discipline. It is something that is sadly lacking in our game, unfortunately,” the Jamaican told the DAILY NATION yesterday.

“We keep on going through the same scenario and we are not getting much results. Our current team needs to be more competitive, but it all starts off the field. We are getting a lot of talk but not much action.

“Morale in the side must be quite low. Coming here and being totally outplayed . . . they have to be rock bottom or even lower . . .”

According to his former team-mate, Garner, West Indies were reaping the results of what had been happening in the boardroom for the last ten years.

“The players who take the field are not the only ones at fault in West Indies cricket. They can only play what they know,” he said.

“Unless we deal with the real problems we will continue to get poor performances and the good people of the West Indies will continue to be disappointed.

“The game has been going downhill for years and no one has decided to take the bull by the horns. All the emphasis seems to on the administration, not on the field.”

Email: philipspooner@nationnews.com

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