The strike made by 23 year old Dwayne Bravo in Jamaica in the 2nd ODI of this exciting series as he deceived Yuvraj Singh, bowling him for 93 to give West Indies a razor thin, heart-stopping victory over India to even the 5-match series at 1-1, might have been the strike heard around the Caribbean. It certainly was the strike that resonated around the West Indies dressing room that convinced the jubilant occupants therein that they were indeed capable of beating the No. 3 ranked ODI team in the world. It was the strike that gave the much maligned West Indies team a taste of victory that they savored like a piece of succulent Jamaican jerk chicken, or a filet of spicy Barbadian flying fish.

With that strike this team that, in recent years had found ways to lose with monotonous regularity, now found a way to win. This team that had as recently as their last overseas tour, often snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, had just become mentally tough enough not to panic in a pressure-packed situation, and to win close games as they did then and again in St. Kitts. But these victories had not come easy. From Game 1 to Game 4, every phase of the West Indies game had improved dramatically. Their out-cricket had gotten progressively better as did their bowling; and their batting as exemplified by Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle particularly, had become more disciplined.

Not only had they worked hard to improve their own game, but much like we did in the glory days of the 70’s through the 80’s, skipper Brian Lara and his squad appeared to have developed an encyclopedic knowledge of their opposition’s tendencies. And by Lara’s own admission they strategized accordingly and apparently executed their game plan to perfection in the 4th ODI to win comprehensively and clinch the series.

Not surprisingly the Prince of Port-of-Spain, who seemed to have always had a flair for the dramatic, saved his best knock so far for his home crowd at the Queen’s Park Oval, and fashioned a scintillating 69 that set his team squarely on the road to their biggest win in recent times.

The capacity crowd also saw a fine all round performance from another favorite son Dwayne Bravo who fittingly sealed the win with his ODI best 61not out. He who had started the ball rolling at Sabina Park was there at the conclusion of this decisive victory.

Here on this fateful day it was ironic that at this venue where the India of legends like Gavaskar, and Vishwanath, and Venkat and Bedi had won Test matches convincingly over West Indies led by Sir Garfield Sobers in 1971 and Clive Lloyd in 1976, Rahul Dravid and his talented young team would succumb. But there is more to come and India may yet win at this storied sward in Trinidad & Tobago before another sold out crowd and a sizeable Indian population today as they seek to salvage a measure of pride. But one gets a sense that this West Indies team would no longer surrender meekly.

It is as though suddenly Sarwan, and Chris Gayle, and Fidel Edwards, and Ian Bradshaw and Marlon Samuels and company realized what cricket has meant to the people of the Caribbean. As the late Prime Minister of Jamaica Michael Manley wrote in his book ‘A History of West Indies Cricket’ -quote “Cricket is the most completely regional activity undertaken by the people of the member states of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM. It is also the most successful co-operative endeavour and, as such, is a constant reminder to a people of otherwise wayward insularity of the value of collaboration.”

What the exciting matches being played out between India and West Indies in these spectacular scenarios from Jamaica to St. Kitts, and from Trinidad and Tobago to Antigua and St. Lucia have manifested, is the boundless pride, and passion, and panache that will propel the 2007 West Indies ICC World Cup Committee, the stakeholders, and the Caribbean people to transform a logistical nightmare of staging the World Cup in 9 countries into a dream season and may be the best World Cup ever.

For now it is on to the 4 Test matches and what could be a different kettle of fish. But if the ODI series is any indication, the cricket will be of a high quality and no less absorbing. The atmosphere is charged, the teams are engaged, the competition is fierce but friendly, and the magic is back. Stay tuned.