BRIDGETOWN, April 11: West Indies tried everything. Pace, spin, their entire 15-man squad and even a mid-tournament holiday all proved in vain. And in a final, desperate attempt to save their doomed World Cup dream, even religion couldn't save them, not even in the daunting shape of former feared fast bowler-turned-preacher Wes Hall.

Hall, now an evangelical minister, had tried to rally support in the build-up to Tuesday's make-or-break clash against South Africa when he spoke at a Jesus 2007 Not Out event at the new 13,000-seat temporary stand at Kensington Oval.

“I would like to be Barnabas the great encourager and give the team a lift. I know that millions of West Indies cricket fans might have been disappointed with our previous visits to the crease, but we must still support the team. They are our team,” said Hall who took 192 Test match wickets.

“What the team need to do is to play every game like a final. If they play each game like a final and win all the games then I'm sure that would be a great blessing to all West Indian people.

“We want the fight to come back, we want the players to play with pride. What we do not want is another supine surrender.”

Hall lamented the absence of a strike bowler in the West Indies team and his mood would not have been lightened by seeing Jerome Taylor dropped again from the team to face the South Africans in Grenada.—AFP