Deadlock expected to be broken in Trinidad

West Indian cricket was put back on track during the first Test against South Africa in Georgetown and nobody should begrudge the groundstaff at the Bourda for preparing a "draw pitch" nor the home team players for aiming to halt their appalling run of seven straight Test losses.

The Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad, however, should produce a different outcome beginning on Saturday as the famous ground celebrates it's 50th Test in front of near-sellout crowds of 20 000.

Dubbed "The Golden Test" after becoming just the eighth Test venue in the world to reach a half-century, the occasion will be marked by the presence of special guests Sir Everton Weekes and Curtly Ambrose who will unveil commemorative boards celebrating the 80 Test centuries and 67 five-wicket hauls achieved in the 49 Tests to date.

An astonishing six of those five-wicket hauls were taken by Ambrose in his 12 Tests at Queen's Park which earned him a total of 66 wickets at an average of 13.2. Sir Everton, meanwhile, produced scores of 207, 161, 206 and 139 in consecutive Tests at the Oval during the mid 1950s. Inspirational figures indeed.

In recent years, however, the ground has witnessed some shockingly low scores with Tests finishing well inside the distance on a pitch that can best be described as "unreliable".

The home side were bundled out for 51 two years ago by Australia and then Zimbabwe could manage just 63 last year when chasing a mere 99 for an historic victory. The bounce was erratic and unpredictable on both occasions.

"We have purchased a mechanical heavy roller and have got in a lot more rolling than in the past," head grounds curator Bryan Davis told the Trinidad Express on Friday. "The pitch is covered with a nice growth of grass so that there will be more bounce, and more consistent bounce, than we normally get," he said. "The ball will come on to the bat a lot more, the batsmen should be able to play their shots with certainty and the bowlers should be rewarded for effort."

All of which sounded like music to the South African players' ears after the dead surface in Guyana. The tourists' first look at the pitch before practise on Thursday produced many admiring comments but also a degree of scepticism. "Let's see how much grass is left by Saturday morning," offered team manager Goolam Rajah.

How ironic. The team with the greatest fast bowling history in the world concerned about "flattening" their pitches in deference to the visitors' attack. Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock are the big names with over 500 Test wickets between them, but the problem for the home side lies more with Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis, both of whom bowled quicker than their illustrious team mates in Guyana and, if anything, made life even more difficult for the batsmen when they came on. "No respite" used to be the West Indian bowling motto. Now it is South Africa's.

Both teams have injury concerns before the match although neither XI seems likely to change from Guyana. Ramnaresh Sarwan is battling a knee injury and would be replaced by Shivnarine Chanderpaul should he fail a fitness test. Middle order batsman Neil McKenzie and left arm Spinner Nicky Boje both had cortisone injections in left wrist and left shoulder respectively after the first Test but both trained - albeit lightly - on Thursday and Friday.

"We're not getting carried away by one Test," warned Windies captain Carl Hooper. "This will be a totally different Test. The surface will be totally different and Queen's Park has a tendency to produce a result so we need to be focussed right from the start. We must take to the field thinking that we can beat them otherwise we won't be competitive. We have to lift our game by at least 10 to 15 percent."