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Youth
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The West Indies have been triumphant in only 16 of their 45 encounters since the 1999 World Cup in England while South Africa, who will host the World Cup in two years' time, have won 11 of their last 14 matches since last September.
The gap between both teams, at this level, is evident for all to see.
Since the last World Cup, the West Indies have utilised the services of 29 players, the South Africans 31. Three of the West Indians (captain Carl Hooper, Brian Lara and Ridley Jacobs) have earned over 50 caps, the South Africans eight (captain Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Allan Donald, Mark Boucher, Jonty Rhodes, Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten).
All of the South Africans are excellent in at least two of the three main areas of the game: batting, bowling and fielding, with Pollock, Kallis, Klusener and Justin Kemp the specialists in all three. For the West Indies, their fielding has been appalling, noticeably 'Down Under', while their self-destructive batting and wayward bowling offers little scope of encouragement.
While the South Africans have a settled and strong unit, in both forms of the game, the West Indies have been a confused lot, and their only hope of finding the right solution for the forthcoming World event is to take the Australians' example in starting a rotation of players, especially if burnout affects the key players Lara, Jacobs, Ricardo Powell and Mervyn Dillon.
For the South Africans, things will remain the same for them. Gibbs and Kirsten will open the innings, with Boeta Dippenaar as the back-up. Kallis, Rhodes, Boucher, Neil McKenzie and Justin Kemp form the middle-order with Pollock, Klusener, Donald and Ntini as the specialist bowlers, leaving pacers Andre Nel, Roger Telemachus and uncapped off-spinning all-rounder Justin Ontong as the reserves.
The West Indies have used countless opening combinations, with the last one being Powell and Wavell Hinds in Australia. Hooper, his deputy Jacobs, Lara, Gayle, Chanderpaul and even Courtney Browne and Junior Murray have opened in the past but Hooper and Lara have reverted to their chosen roles in the middle-order.
On form and merit, only Hooper, Lara, Jacobs, Powell (the only proven match-winners), Dillon, Cuffy, Hinds and Marlon Samuels can justifiably earn their picks for the first limited-overs international in Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica on April 28.
The state of affairs is reflected in the annual returns from the Red Stripe Bowl, and the refusal of territorial teams to encourage the younger players. Samuels, Powell, Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were given international debuts with little or no top-class limited-overs experience behind them.
Other players who can force their way into the first eleven are the recuperated Shivnarine Chanderpaul, ex-West Indies youth team captains Sylvester Joseph and Ryan Hinds, opener Leon Garrick, wicket-keeper Junior Murray (following his performances at last year's Bowl), left-arm orthodox spinner Dave Mohammed and leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine.
Dillon and Cuffy will lead the inexperienced bowling attack, with support from the wayward Nixon McLean, Reon King and the unproven duo of Colin Stuart and Ian Bradshaw. With Bradshaw new to this level of cricket, none of the abovementioned quintet have produced consistently to earn an extended run in both Tests and limited-overs. The slow bowling duties will rest on the shoulders of Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell.
The loss of key spinner Nicky Boje due to two bodily malfunctions will place the slow-bowling burden on the newcomer Justin Ontong, who visited these shores last year as a member of the South African 'A' team.
But it is the pace which gets the job done for the Africans. Andre Nel is untested, but the qualities of Pollock, Donald, Kallis, Klusener, Kemp, Ntini and Telemachus are well known.
The batting compartment for the South Africans will welcome back Rhodes to the equation, to join the in-form Gibbs, Kallis, McKenzie, Dippenaar and Pollock in the line-up.
And there are no identifiable blemishes as far as their fielding is concerned. The West Indies are capable of such brilliance, but it has been produced only spasmodically.
The South Africans have nothing to lose when this series is over. They have already secured their ranking as a pre-tournament favourite for the 2003 title, while on the other side of the coin, the West Indies have a lot of planning and thought to do before they can stake a claim as one of the world's top limited-overs teams.