Six months ago, when the Reverend Wes Hall took over as the President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), he said that the re-elevation of the West Indies to the top echelons of world cricket has always been his ambition. To achieve that, Hall said, "We have to be competitive. We know there is an intestinal resistance to change. It is a fact that people don't like change, and they are not going to like this programme because it is not the same old thing...so we have to change or perish, it's as obvious as that. We have to look at this 'dinosaurial' syndrome."

The upcoming Indian tour of the West Indies, then, provides the home team a chance to prove that they have overcome the "dinosaurial syndrome."

The problem with the West Indies of late has been that they have never learnt from their defeats. They seem to have developed the losing habit, having lost 23 of their last 27 away Tests and also the last home series they played - against South Africa in 2001. They should have lost to Pakistan too at home, but for one of the worst umpiring decisions ever. Debutant West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove gave Courtney Walsh "not out" after the latter had clearly hit the ball to short-leg, the West Indies just a few runs away from victory.

Sports psychologists keep reminding us that losing is a habit, just as winning is. The current attempts to help the team lose the losing habit, then, are being directed at technique (not to be ignored) rather than at the attitude of the players. Somehow, the latter seems to be more necessary.

West Indies coach Roger Harper explained his views on the matter. "There has been a myth going around that West Indian players are strong technically. That is one of the greatest myths that has been thrown around the West Indies for some time now. When we look at our cricket, we realise that we have a lot of technical deficiencies. So it is not a case of us having great technique and not being able to execute, but our technique is not up to Test-level."

He said that this did not happen earlier, as there were always "old experienced players who took it upon themselves at the club level to develop the young players, imparting technical knowledge and sharing their experiences with their young players."

"After the 80s, that sort of thing did not happen," added Harper. "The older players (former Test and first-class players) just left the game, some migrated or because of economic reasons weren't able to put in enough time at the club level with the younger players."

"The youngsters were not brought on the same way as the players were previously brought on. This means that they were coming through without the proper background they needed to have when they got to first-class level, much less international level," Harper emphasised, explaining why West Indian cricket has suddenly taken a nose-dive.

Probably understanding this, the current training camp for the players selected in the preliminary squad for the series against India saw the unprecedented involvement of previous greats like Sir Garry Sobers and Andy Roberts, among others. Sobers was optimistic that the players, whom he had seen at the camp, could, with the right guidance, do the region proud.

"What I have seen is a lot of good youngsters, and if they get the right guidance, they will certainly help the West Indies in the near future. There are just the technical aspects, and the way of thinking that must be honed as cricket at Test level is played from the shoulders up," Sobers said.

The man who was named as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Century said he was convinced the downfall in the last seven years was caused as much by the deleterious change in attitude as anything else.

"They must learn and enjoy reading the game, knowing what shots should and should not be played in certain circumstances. That is what I have been working on - looking at them in the nets, trying to get them to buy into the best habits. They have been listening, they are paying attention," he said.

Talking about the Indians, Sobers said, "They are coming to win. This is where we will find out how much these boys have improved or how badly their morale has been damaged."

He felt that the West Indies, for their part, needed a good start after the morale-shattering defeats in recent times. "They need a bit of insurance by having a good start in the series. They need someone to talk to them, to make them realise the circumstances of the game and boost their morale," he added.

Meanwhile, a keen sense of anticipation is building up in the Caribbean ahead of the series, especially in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago, where about 45 percent of the population is of Indian descent.

The pitches at most of the Test grounds should be helpful to the two Indian spinners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The West Indies batsmen will have to put on their dancing shoes if they are to cope with the Indian spin twins. The Kensington Oval at Barbados, which may lay claim to having the best pitch in the country, and the Sabina Park Oval at Jamaica, where the third and fifth Test are to be held, should still favour the quicks.

This is where someone like Adam Sanford, who might be the new star on the West Indies fast bowling horizon, is expected to thrive. He burst onto the scene in this year's Busta Cup after encouraging fast-bowling performances for his native Antigua & Barbuda during the Leeward Islands championship last year. He has taken 37 wickets at 24.24 each.

Overall, the series between the two sides should be a very interesting one that the West Indies would do well to win and bring some pleasure back to the fans in the Caribbean. If Sanford is selected and proves his mettle, and the rest of the batsmen rally around Brian Lara, who seems fit to play, then the West Indies could be more than competitive. They could actually surprise all and win.

© CricInfo