THE West Indies team didn’t win in Antigua yesterday, but all West Indian cricket fans are feeling like winners just at the moment.

The drawn first Test match against England felt like victory largely because the regional side — with their backs against the wall — batted through the entire last day showing fight and resolve, confounding the cynics who love to dismiss them as hopeless.

It’s useful to recall that England are ranked at number three in Test matches, behind South Africa and Australia, while West Indies are ranked at eighth, only ahead of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Indeed, prior to the start of the three-Test series, the attitude towards the West Indies team from many bordered on contempt, with one leading administrator in English cricket describing the Caribbean team as “mediocre”.

There were times in that first Test when the West Indies lost focus and failed to execute as well as they should have, but at no time did they seem mediocre.

Very pleasing was the performance of two 23-year-olds, Messrs Jermaine Blackwood and Jason Holder, who scored maiden Test centuries. Mr Blackwood, a batsman with special talent, will surely score many more, once he remains focused.

Mr Holder, the man-of-the-match, was selected for that first Test mainly for his seam bowling. But his match-saving second innings century, achieved under tremendous pressure, underlined the expectation that he is on his way to becoming an all-rounder of the highest quality.

Those two, alongside 22-year-old opener Mr Kraigg Brathwaite, who already has a Test match double century and a coming-of-age century against powerful South Africa a few months ago, confirm the view held by many cricket-watchers that there is plenty of talent coming through.

All three were part of the same West Indies Under-19 team of a few years ago and they are all graduates of the academy programme, the Sagicor High Performance Centre.

West Indians are well aware that the near bankrupt West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is under tremendous pressure, not least because of the US$42-million claim by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. However, the success thus far of Messrs Brathwaite, Blackwood and Holder shows that, by whatever means necessary, the WICB executive must ensure the continuation and strengthening of the various development programmes.

The challenge now for captain Mr Denesh Ramdin and his West Indies team will be to move from strength to strength. They have shown in Antigua that they can compete against England.

They must now move to the second Test in Grenada with the self-belief and will to further confound the critics by beating England. They may fall short, but they should try with might and main.

One last thing: We think it worthy of applause that CVM TV is showing the Test series to the Jamaican public. What a shame that not one of the many Jamaican radio stations chose to air the first Test.