And in the end, the fall-out from what has happened in South Africa could retard the further development of the game in the West Indies.

That's likely to occur because after the West Indies were beaten by South Africa in the current Test series, the region's cricket board may no longer be able to demand high fees from other countries to play against their Test teams.

That bleak forecast has come from Julian Hunte, who until recently was the No. 2 official of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

``It will place us in a very bad light, particularly as it relates to our ability to command guaranteed fees,'' Hunte said in New York where he serves as St. Lucia's Ambassador to the United Nations.

``Given the cost of running cricket in the region, including what we need to pay our players, we need to be competitive in order to earn the kind of revenue that we need to run cricket.''

The West Indies were beaten by South Africa in the first three Test matches and Hunte told WEEKENDSPORT that the message the performance in South Africa was sending to other Test-playing countries ``is that we may not be worth what we think we are worth.''

Hence, his warning that it could lead to ``a reduction in what we are able to earn, which is not good,'' stated Hunte.

Should that happen, the board, the game in the West Indies and the players would all suffer financially, he declared.

``We have always been very competitive and to go down in this manner would retard our progress in that particular area,'' he added.

``We will have to do a lot of work to convince people that the fees, the monies, the guarantees that we demanded in the past that that could be maintained.''

In essence, he said, the abysmal display was going to hurt the image, the finances and the development of the game in the region.

And with Australia coming to the Caribbean in 1999, Hunte is wondering if the board wouldn't be force to make some drastic changes, even at ``the top'' of the team and about aging players.

``What happens after this tour (of South Africa)? Are they going to be any changes at the top? Is the team going to take a new direction? Will they require new leadership? Will some of the older players now move on?''

Hunte stepped down as the WICB vice-president in November after he found it difficult to attend board meetings and carry out his duties as St. Lucia's Ambassador and Consul-General in New York.

He said the future of the game in the Caribbean was under a cloud because of what had happened in South Africa.

``There is a lot of uncertainty in so far as the future is concerned,'' asserted the man who was involved in running West Indies cricket for the past 20 years.

``We will have to quickly put a credible team together. By saying credible, I mean competitive.''

Like other critics of the team in South Africa, Hunte pointed a finger at the batting, saying the batsmen hadn't lived up to expectations and he charged that some players wanted to hit every ball to the boundary. At the same time, they were reluctant to correct flaws in their batting.

``Some of our key players need to do something about their technique and they are either too proud or what have you to accept that work has to be done,'' said Hunte.

To support his contention, he said that they had set up a clinic in Antigua and ``one of the key West Indies players, invited to come to work on a deficiency which he had and which was obvious to everybody'' simply declined to turn up.

``He just refused to participate,'' said Hunte.

He declined to identify the player but explained it wasn't Sherwin Campbell.

``There is a lot of work to be done,'' he added. ``What is happening in South Africa, is a reality check. We have to move away from the romance of the 1980s and realise that we have problems.''

If the West Indies came to grips with that reality, he went on, then chances were that the team could reverse the slide.

But the message must get out to the players and to the authorities in the various countries in the region that ``we are in trouble'' and that the situation must be ``tackled in a very serious way,'' stated Hunte.