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A West Indian all-rounder who now boasts of a tremendous reputation in South Africa is favouring Shaun Pollock's men to get the better of the Caribbean side in the imminent home series.

As one who likes to be patriotic, I would prefer the West Indies to win, but if you're going to the realistic, you're going to tip South Africa to win the series, Vasbert Drakes told NATIONSPORT on a mobile telephone link-up from East London yesterday.

South Africa have the better side at the moment.

They are a well-equipped, very disciplined unit with top-quality players.

Drakes, a 31-year-old Barbadian fast bowling all-rounder who has performed impressively for Border in South Africa's domestic competitions during the last few years, was not bold enough to predict a scoreline for the five-match Test series.

This is cricket we are playing. Anything is possible, he said.

`Quality players'

You cannot take away from the fact that the West Indies have some quality players, but a lot depends on how well the guys adapt under the leadership of Carl Hooper, added Drakes, who played five One-Day Internationals for the West Indies in 1995.

He was, however, surprised that Hooper was appointed captain almost two years after his sudden retirement from international cricket.

I find it quite strange that someone who has been out of cricket for a while has been put at the helm. It is quite bizarre, Drakes said.

It was his view that Hooper was not someone blessed with leadership qualities.

If you felt there was no one to captain the team, it would be better to go with someone you can groom for the future.

When you appoint Hooper as captain, I don't think you are grooming someone for the future.

In favouring South Africa to beat the West Indies, Drakes also mentioned the type of preparation by the world's unofficially ranked No. 2 Test-playing nation.

In the build-up to the series, team manager Goolam Rajah came to the Caribbean weeks in advance to carry out checks on grounds, pitches, practice facilities and accommodation among other things.

They did their homework and that is very important, Drakes said.

The guys are going to know what to expect from the Caribbean. They are well advanced in terms of thinking ahead of the game.

Drakes is also impressed by the quality players in the South Africa squad. He rated Jacques Kallis as one of the most awesome all- rounders in world cricket.

The bowling attack, he said, was in good hands with the likes of veteran Allan Donald, captain Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini, who he feels has been one of South Africa's better bowlers in the past 18 months.

© The Barbados Nation