Agony at ARG
The Final result might not have had anything to do with it
Haydn Gill
01-Nov-1999
The Final result might not have had anything to do with it. But, from
the moment Barbados chose to bat first on winning the toss in their
Red Stripe Bowl opener against the Leeward Islands yesterday, there
was some debate at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG).
That they managed only 120 had little to do with the surface, and they
duly lost the match by four wickets in spite of a splendid effort in
defending their paltry total.
There was tight, containing bowling by Barbados throughout and the
hosts arrived at their target in the 43rd of the 46 overs available.
Prior to the start, which was delayed by 45 minutes to allow the
groundstaff to finally complete the raking up of an enormous amount of
grass, the general feeling was that the pitch would be unpredictable.
When asked at the time why Barbados opted to bat first, coach William
Bourne said the Duckworth/Lewis system in rain-affected matches tended
to put the team batting second at a disadvantage.
There is some uncertainty about the weather, he said at a time when
the skies were clear and the forecast was favourable.
That was a key factor, and sometimes we seem to get problems batting
second. We feel that once we ride out the first hour, we should get a
good score,Bourne said.
Barbados did survive the first hour against a Leeward Islands attack
without Curtly Ambrose and Kenny Benjamin.
The damage, however, was principally inflicted by two players in only
their second season of regional cricket.
Afterwards, Bourne cited the disappointing collapse in which Barbados
lost their last seven wickets for 25 runs as the main reason for their
demise.
We had some bad strokes. The batting was a letdown, he said.
The pitch was slow. There was nothing untoward or extraordinary about
it.
One ball bounced badly in both innings, but we batted badly.
The defeat means that Barbados must win against Canada today and
Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow to stand a chance of reaching the
semifinals.
The collapse could not have been predicted when captain Philo Wallace
and Adrian Griffith were finding the boundary with regularity in a
second-wicket stand of 53.
Having analysed the pitch, the pair played with some authority after
Sherwin Campbell was out to his first ball, gloving a lifting delivery
from debutant fast bowler Goldwyn Prince.
Big and strong, Prince bowled with enthusiasm before Wallace smacked
him for four boundaries through the on-side.
Barbados reached their first 50 in 13 overs before losing momentum
with the introduction of Hamesh Anthony and Anthony Lake.
Anthony struck an important blow in his first over when Wallaces
attempted cut resulted in an edged catch to wicket-keeper Ridley
Jacobs, who hauled in five dismissals.
Once the captain was out, only 22 runs were scored in the next 11
overs that followed from medium-pacer Anthony and off-spinner Lake.
Lake, a 25-year-old Antiguan who created a favourable impression in
his debut season last year, hardly delivered a bad ball in ten
successive overs that cost him a mere 16 runs and included the scalps
of the left-handers Griffith and Ryan Hinds.
Griffiths knock ended in disappointing fashion at 31 with an
ill-advised cross-batted stroke, but Barbados woes started with a
double-strike from the unlikeliest of bowlers.
When Wildern Cornwall came on to bowl his bustling medium-pace after
27 overs with the total on 80 for three, Barbados would have been
looking to increase the tempo.
Instead, they had to try to recover from the quick dismissals of Floyd
Reifer, who edged a catch to Jacobs, and Roland Holder, a lbw victim
on the back foot two balls after the dismissal of his partner.
Barbados never overcame these setbacks and a seemingly lengthy batting
order - Antonio Mayers went in at No. 8 - could not raise at least
another 30 runs that would have made the match far more competitive.
Barbados did well to prevent the Leewards from romping home, but the
final result was always on the cards once the experienced Keith
Arthurton and Jacobs added 35 for the fifth wicket after their team
were tottering at 48 for four.
Jacobs hit 31 off 67 balls and Arthurton made 25.