Oh, what a feeling! Sir Viv excited about West Indies' series victory over England

Vivian Richards, Contributor

IT GOT a little too close for comfort at the end of the fifth and final Test but I am glad to see that West Indies continued to show the fight and the character they have exemplified throughout this series and held on magnificently for a draw to secure a Test-series victory.

It is always a good feeling when you win a Test series. It is one of the best feelings you can experience as a cricketer. It is the culmination of all the hard work you would have put in, particularly in a series like this when the stakes were high and the cricket was tough.

Twenty20 might be the new cricket craze (and you all know of my close association with it) but there is nothing like winning a Test match or a Test series and I hope the West Indies players savour it and recall it every time they step out onto the field in the future.

For most of them it was, perhaps, the first time they were experiencing winning a Test series against a big side in the world of cricket and so they should remember this feeling, remember what they did to achieve and try to do it more consistently in the future.

Taking team for granted

I can't help but say, though, that it appeared to me that England came out to the Caribbean this time and felt they could take West Indies for granted.

From my experience, this is always a recipe for disaster - complacency - thinking you have a game or a series won before it is played. I was happy to see that West Indies stuck to the task throughout the series and though England came at them hard, they responded strongly each and every time.

The aggressive way in which they played in Jamaica also impressed me. They had to stave off some very exciting moments to draw the Test in Antigua and had to do the same in Trinidad. In Barbados, they were put under pressure by a massive England first innings total and held their nerve to respond in the appropriate way, with an even bigger total.

I have always said that if you cannot win Test matches, you should make sure you do all that you can to not lose them. It looks from the way West Indies played in this series, they have learnt this lesson - and let's hope it sinks in.

Praise for Sarwan

What pleased me most was the way that some of the players have stepped up, big time, but no praise can be too much for Ramnaresh Sarwan.

He batted extremely well. He's never batted so well before in his life. It is a series, I believe, he will remember for a long time. He showed maturity and there were times when he batted and batted, especially the innings in Barbados, regardless of the situation in which West Indies found themselves.

No matter how good the pitches might have been in this series, some of the totals that England posed were pretty intimidating and he was chiefly responsible for West Indies putting them in their true perspective.

Throughout the series, we all saw what we knew about Sarwan and he had seldom shown in the past - that he is a class act.

My biggest disappointment was seeing Daren Powell being given another opportunity and unable to make use of it. From all reports, he works hard on his game and it is unfortunate that he has not gotten the rewards for his effort.

I was also not happy with one or two selections coming into the last Test. It is clear we did not go to Trinidad to put pressure on England, but to hope that they made mistakes.

England knew they had to take 20 wickets to win the Test and level the series and they played five bowlers, including two specialist spin bowlers, which gave them an opportunity to achieve their goal.

You can see what happened in the end, they almost got the win and so I leave it to you, the readers, to judge whether we did the right thing or not, considering we drew the Test and won the series.

Playing surfaces

Some people complained about the pitches throughout the series and, admittedly, they were pretty flat, but I think home advantage should count for something.

I would have loved to see our fast bowlers getting a bit more help from the surfaces but I do not think the pitches took away from the series.

Again, England posted big, challenging totals and West Indies were able to match them at every stride. This was not happening a few short years ago, so the quality of the pitches should not devalue the performance of the team.

Another complaint was the referral system. The jury is still out on this. If the ICC wants to use the referral system, I think they should go all the way and make full use of all the available technology.

They should also give the umpires the privilege to ask for help with everything, and the video umpire the right to intervene if he has evidence that a decision should be changed.

They have to be careful with the implementation of the system, though. I felt that throughout this series, it created a few animals, where batsmen not 'walking' (pardon the pun) was concerned. Some of the batsmen felt they had an opportunity to go to the referral system for a second chance to bat and I think this was an unwise use of it.

It would also have been nice to see a little bit more of our supporters at the matches. The England supporters, as they usually do, travelled in large numbers and outnumbered West Indies supporters in most cases.

Maybe some people are still disenchanted with the team and adopted a wait-and-see approach, but I thought following the win in Jamaica, this would have encouraged a lot more people to attend the matches.

But I think winning this series will change some of their attitudes and they will start believing in the players a little bit more and we will begin seeing a lot more buns on seats in the future.

Upcoming matches

Looking ahead to the limited-overs matches - the Twenty20 International and five One-day Internationals - it's a pity we might not see West Indies captain Chris Gayle, who relishes this type of cricket and there is a possibility that Shivnarine Chanderpaul might also miss a few of the matches.

If they do not take part, it gives us an opportunity to see other individuals, which would give us an indication of what is there below the surface, for the future. There are so many talented players in the Caribbean and maybe if they play a game or two at home, it would help to create the depth in the talent pool to help us in the future.

So, all in all, I believe the Test series has shown that West Indies have made a turn in the right direction. To have achieved a Test series victory, after such a long time and against a side like England, the message should be sent loud and clear that this is a turning point of some sort.

Away from the cricket pitch, there has been a terrific response to my Don't Drink and Drive campaign so far and this Sunday's event will demonstrate the strength of that support when I lead the 'Don't Drink and Drive' walk to the Twenty20 match with Michael Holding and several other West Indies legends.

Let's hope that the message is getting through to people and that our roads will become a safer place for everyone.

Sir Vivian Richards is a Responsible Drinking Ambassador for Johnnie Walker's Know Your Boundaries campaign and reminds everyone not to drink and drive, but to plan ahead and use a Designated Driver to get home safely.