Barbados crushed the West Indies by eight wickets at Somerset Cricket Club on Saturday - a result currently being heralded in the Bajan press as one of the finest moments in the Island's cricketing history.

Set 236 to win on an even-paced pitch which offered little to bowlers except a modicum of turn, the Bajans powered their way to victory thanks, in particular, to the explosive exploits of left-handed opener Martin Nurse, whose savage innings of 78 off only 57 balls completely knocked the stuffing out of the hapless Windies.

Fellow opener Kurt Wilkinson put on 123 with Nurse for the first wicket, while Jason Parris (60 not out) and captain Sherwin Campbell (46 not out) were similarly untroubled by an attack which lacked any semblance of penetration.

As well as the Bajans batted, however, even they might admit their opponents were a shambles in the field from start to finish.

Brian Lara's team at present are at their lowest ebb: tired, dispirited and without direction. Those who paid good money to come and watch them on Saturday could be forgiven for thinking they were watching a Commercial League team rather than an outfit which is about to begin their campaign at the second most important limited overs competition in world cricket.

One can, at a stretch, try to understand their current predicament.

Away from home for months on end, they have been on the receiving end of some fearsome batterings over the last few years - and not just on the cricket field but in the media as well.

But there was simply no excuse for their performance on Saturday. Lackadaisical throughout, the Windies dropped catches, missed obvious run outs, bowled countless untidy overs and generally went about their business in a way which suggested they would rather have been sitting in the bar sipping on a black and coke and flirting with the barmaid.

The lack of imagination in Lara's captaincy and the general shortage of urgency between overs - as the Windies fielders sauntered at a snail's pace from one fielding position to the other - was baffling and an affront not only to the tour's sponsors and the paying spectators but also to the West Indies' colours.

It is difficult to imagine the Australians, the Indians or the English treating crucial warm up games in such a casual and cavalier manner and, as many observers sitting on the boundary edge were not afraid to point out, it is therefore of no surprise that the Windies are languishing so far down the pecking order of world cricket.

But credit where credit's due.

Nurse, batting in obvious discomfort because of a groin strain, was imperious throughout his match-winning innings, taking advantage of almost everything short or over-pitched and peppering the short boundaries either side of the wicket with some eye-catching strokes.

He took a particular liking to the occasional leg-breaks of Ramnaresh Sarwan, whom he blasted for three consecutive sixes in his first over - reaching a well deserved 50 in the process.

Sarwan, the West Indies vice-captain, endured a painful session in the field, with his seven overs costing a total of 64 runs.

With victory in sight, the burly right-hander Parris also offered him little respect, taking 23 runs off his penultimate over in a positively Flintoffian display off hitting.

Earlier, the West Indies had won the toss and elected to bat - though any chance of them reaching a competitive total above 300 was scuppered by a laboured innings of 54 by opener Wavell Hinds, who used up 113 balls in compiling the Windies' top-score.

Mercifully, the tempo increased thanks to an entertaining 72 run partnership between Lara (34) and Sarwan (34) while Dwayne Bravo (38) and Ricardo Powell (31) chipped in with some late-innings fireworks.

But given the tiny confines of the SCC and the easy nature of the pitch, a score of 236 was always likely to be inadequate.

Afterwards, a disappointed West Indies tour manager Tony Howard made no excuses for the side's performance.

“You have to give credit to Barbados and the way they batted but the truth is we were well below par,” he said.

“We have been trying to give extended chances to players in the squad we don't know much about like Darren Sammy but again the entire performance was just not up to scratch. Hopefully we can start to put it together when the Champions Trophy comes along.”