Ramdin urges young batsmen to step up

Denesh Ramdin has reason to want to forget the last time West Indies played Tests in South Africa. He was going through a rough patch and scored only 109 runs in the three-Test series, which was sandwiched between rubbers against England and Sri Lanka where he didn't manage much more. But Ramdin is forcing himself to remember the summer of 2007 because it was a season when West Indies enjoyed a rare success.

They beat South Africa in Port Elizabeth - their only win in the country - in the series opener and were dreaming of much more. "The last time we were here we won the first Test match but then we didn't show the fight and determination for the rest of the series," Ramdin said. "This time we will let that motivate us and we will try and go one step further."

If Ramdin is talking literally, he is asking his men for two victories which will see them take the Sir Viv Richards trophy off South Africa and topple the World No.1s. That West Indies, who are ranked 8th with only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe below them, have allowed themselves to think that far seems admirable. That they are doing so while missing two headline batsmen in Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo appears nothing more than wishful. But Ramdin is lining his fantasy with reason.

"Of course for any team that loses Chris Gayle, it's a blow for them and everyone would have loved to see Darren here batting - he is a free stroke-playing guy but he's got personal issues," Ramdin said. "So hopefully a young player can take the opportunity to do well for himself and the team. There are a couple of young players in the mix but then a couple of senior players - [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul, myself, Marlon Samuels - who will guide them through."

Batting big is going to be West Indies' priority and it may be why they arrived in the country with more than two weeks to go before the first Test. "We are trying to acclimatise to the pitches as quickly as possible," Ramdin said. West Indies have one three-day tour match against an Invitation XI next week but will be based up country where they can enjoy the spicy surfaces at grounds like the Wanderers and SuperSport Park as they prepare.

Their focus will be on readying the top-order for resistance against Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel. "They have a very strong bowling line-up but we have to bat really long and not give them opportunities with the new ball to get the middle and lower order in," Ramdin said.

They may even ask Gayle, who is in the country playing for the Johannesburg-based Lions' franchise in the domestic twenty-over competition, for some advice. "He always has wise words and he will be a motivating factor," Richie Richardson, West Indies team manager said. "If he is around the hotel and he wants to meet us, we will invite him in."

Ultimately, though, it will be up to Devon Smith, Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood to step up and Ramdin is confident they will. He pointed to Smith - fresh off a century for Windward Islands - and Brathwaite's domestic form and urge them to make the most of the chance to "make a name for themselves," in South Africa. "It's very important that guys who are set don't leave it up to the other players," Ramdin said. "If you get hundred, you should score a big hundred. When you do that you keep the opposition out of the game."

And he did not forget about the job his bowlers will have to do. On lively pitches, Ramdin hopes Jerome Taylor and Shannon Gabriel can give South Africa a taste of their own medicine. "We have a very good bowling line-up as well," he said. "The new ball is going to be very important and we will try and expose the middle and lower order of the South Africans."

But the undercurrent of Ramdin's tough talk was that his men would actually be the ones on the back foot over the next five weeks and anything more than that would be a bonus. "It will be a very tough series for us," he admitted. "It's going to be tough mentally. We have not been playing Test cricket as we would like to play so we really need to play some good cricket here." If they do, then the 2007-08 series can return to where it belongs: the back of Ramdin's memory bank.