West Indies coach Bennett King insists he is seeing improvements in the Caribbean team despite them having already lost the Test series 2-0 to South Africa. The Australia-born King believes that he has noticed a changing culture in the side since he was appointed late last year. "To a man, they are all spending more time thinking about their cricket," King told reporters on the eve of the fourth and final Test against the Proteas which starts here on Friday.
"We have spent a lot of time around the video and trying to teach them some things that we believe will make them successful at international cricket. It has to be a really fast learning curve for many of the players that lack experience and I believe they are really learning quite well at the moment."
King also believes that the weaknesses in the structure of the West Indies first-class competition have contributed greatly to the sorry performances from the side in recent times.
"I believe one of the main problems with the West Indies at the moment is the gap between regional cricket and international cricket," he said.
"They are trying their best, but if you go and watch regional cricket closely the standard of West Indies first-class cricket is not conducive to producing players for the international level."
Last week, King had a meeting with coaches from the six territorial sides that contest the West Indies first-class championship, and he disclosed that they all are looking forward to the new season - starting unusually in November - to put into practice some of the methodologies he has shared with them.
"We've talked with all the coaches and, to a man, they've have been supportive of the approach that we are trying to put forward," said King.
"We had a good review and out of that discussion has come a document that we believe is quite strong. The coaches are looking for help, and I certainly intend to give it to them, wherever I can."
West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul said his team were going into the match in a positive frame of mind.
"We want to salvage something from this Test, and so we're looking for a win," he said.
"We've been trying hard. We've had meetings where everybody has contributed. That makes my job easier, and I'm happy with that development, but I'm not happy with our results.
"To win, we have to play better cricket than South Africa, and that's all around - batting, bowling, fielding."
South Africa clinched the series when they won the third Test at Bridgetown last Sunday by an innings and 86 runs to take an unbeatable lead in the series.
The first Test at Georgetown ended in a draw, and South Africa won the second Test at Port of Spain by eight wickets.
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