THE WEST Indies, still smarting from their double loss to South Africa, take on Pakistan in the first of three one-day internationals at Arnos Vale tomorrow. After that it will be two Test matches, one at Kensington Oval and one at Sabina Park, and the fans, a whole lot of them it appears, are worried, so much so that instead of hoping, they are praying. Against South Africa, the West Indies were disappointing whether batting, bowling or fielding. The general feeling is that it will be no different against Pakistan, whether it's the one-day matches or the Test matches. Looking at both teams that could be so, especially remembering the VB Series in Australia last year when Pakistan won two of the three matches between the two teams and the West Indies one; and also the Test series in the United Arab Emirates three years ago where Pakistan won both matches easily. In the one-day series, for example, Pakistan are blessed with Shahid Afridi, a magnificent hitter who can make the difference. SPIN BOWLERS In the Test matches they boast two good spin bowlers in right-arm legspinner Danesh Kaneria and offspinner Arshad Khan, and unlike any bowler in the West Indies, Kaneria, certainly, is capable of winning matches. On top of that, in captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Asim Kamal, Malik and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, Pakistan possess some exciting batsmen. What is interesting, however, is that West Indies batsmen - with the exception of Brian Lara -more so this set of West Indies batsmen, are suspect to good spin bowling, and apart from Kaneria and Arshad Khan, the visitors have at least two more spin bowlers on call. One is all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who has been cleared to bowl his "doosra" and another is Afridi and his legspinners. That means that unlike South Africa, when it was pace and more pace for the West Indies batsmen, against Pakistan, and even with the presence of pacer Rana-Naved-ul-Hassan, medium-pacer Shahid Nazar and Rao Iftikhar, it will be spin and more spin. The odds on victory are not totally in Pakistan's favour, however. As exciting as Pakistan's batsmen are, they are notorious, (much more so than West Indies batsmen), for falling apart even on good pitches and in good conditions. Their record in the West Indies, in both one-day and Test matches, is not good. In 16 one-day matches they have won only four to the West Indies' 11. In 19 Test matches they have won only three to the West Indies' nine, and on top of that, they will be without top fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohamad Sami. They will be without all-rounder Abdul Razzaq for some time, and they will be without captain and top batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq for the first Test. And lest it has been forgotten, although the West Indies lost to Pakistan twice during the VB Series, they won the ICC Champions Trophy in September after knocking off Pakistan by seven wickets in the semi-finals. The one-day series, like most one-day series, can go either way, and all things considered, the Test series should end in a draw, providing the West Indies bat well. Reprinted from jamaica-gleaner.com