WI Domestic: Barbados hold out for draw

Admirable fighting qualities on a wearing pitch earned Barbados a draw against England 'A' yesterday, but other results around the region left them in sixth place after the halfway stage of the Busta Series.

Confronted by a pitch on which the bounce became increasingly low and bombarded by a series of boisterous appeals, Barbados could take some satisfaction from losing only five wickets on the last day to deny the visitors victory.

Adrian Griffith's 84 and support from Ryan Hinds and Courtney Browne, along with a defiant unbeaten half-century stand between captain Ian Bradshaw and Dave Marshall during the last hour-and-a-half, allowed Barbados to reach 229 for six when the match was called off with two overs remaining.

When it was over, Barbados finished second best for the third successive home match, but they were still upbeat and admitted they were able to learn a few things from the international opposition.

"We didn't get the most points in this game. Sometimes that happens, but one of the important things was that we are playing against a good English `A' team and they have taught us a lot about preparation, mental attitude, performance and professionalism," said Barbados coach Hendy Springer.

It was a view shared by skipper Bradshaw, who won the Man-Of-The-Match award, mainly for his unbeaten 109 in the first innings. He finished 18 not out in the second innings to add to his three wickets.

"We have learnt from the disciplined approach that the English guys took," Bradshaw said. "They were very consistent in terms of their line and length. That is something our bowlers have got to look at and try to emulate. They batted very patiently and that is something we have been trying to stress to the batters. You can learn from these guys. They are professional cricketers."

The three points carried Barbados to 21, 15 behind front-runners Jamaica with three round of matches remaining.

England 'A' slipped to joint-third on 27 points, but their captain Mark Alleyne was pleased about the performance in spite of their inability to gain maximum points.

"We played well enough to deserve an outright victory, but Barbados showed a bit of resilience today and we couldn't quite force it," Alleyne said.

"But we will take a lot from this game into the next match, knowing we are good enough to force an outright victory against Jamaica."

The one thing that disappointed Alleyne was to find a pitch that was of the same quality as those he had encountered in St. George's and Port-of-Spain.

"In terms of pace, it was very similar very slow. It didn't spin that much off the straight. We had to use the bowler's footmarks a little bit," he said.

Barbados, resuming yesterday on 27 for one still 167 runs behind suffered an immediate setback when Sean Armstrong gave a bat/pad catch to silly-point after 20 minutes.

They, however, would have been satisfied that Griffith and Hinds were able to survive until the lunch break.

Hinds overcame an uncertain start and was able to keep England at bay for almost two hours before the visitors gained an important double-strike quickly after lunch.

Afzaal finally won a decision for lbw when Hinds (30) was pinned on the back foot, and there was a similar verdict in the next over for fast bowler Jonathan Lewis who trapped Holder as the experienced batsman was trying to push forward.

By then, Griffith had passed his second half-century of the tournament. Browne joined him, but the wicket-keeper/batsman had to contend with the uncomfortable spin directed outside the leg-stump in the rough.

It was a ploy that brought England no success, and Griffith and Browne were taking Barbados to the tea interval when their sixth-wicket partnership of 60 was ended by a loose stroke from Griffith five minutes before the break.

For most of the day, England depended heavily on their spinners, but the second ball did the trick. Alex Tudor, rested all day, induced Griffith into a half-hearted drive that lacked footwork.

The ball took the edge of the bat and went to second slip where Vikram Solanki accepted his 16th catch of the season to end an important innings that lasted five hours and included four boundaries off 238 balls.

When Browne was run out for 29 by a direct throw by Mike Powell from mid-wicket to the bowler's end in the first over after tea, Barbados were behind by 15 runs and only four wickets remained.

Bradshaw and Marshall had their early problems, but managed to stay together to add 50 before the match ended.