Gayle, Ambrose come out tops

Tournament MVPs Chris Gayle and ace fast bowler Curtly Ambrose have topped the batting and bowling averages respectively in the 2000 Busta Cup.

Gayle, a 20-year-old Jamaican left-hander, in only his second regional first-class season, was by far the most outstanding batsman. His 623 runs (ave. 56.63) in 14 innings eclipsed his nearest rival by 245 runs. No other batsman made more than 380 runs.

A converted opening batsman who strikes the ball powerfully, Gayle also had the satisfaction of posting the tournament's highest score, 168 against Guyana in the semifinals.

It was his second hundred off Guyana in the tournament, having hit an unbeaten 121 against them in the preliminaries. Bothcenturies were made at Sabina Park which was the venue for five of the competition's 12 centuries.

Ambrose dispelled any doubts about his form and fitness in an outstanding season for the Leeward Islands in which his fast bowling earned him 31 wickets at 12.03 apiece.

Twice in an innings he recorded figures of five for 39: the first against Guyana at the Antigua Recreation Ground and the second against Barbados in the semifinals at Kensington Oval.

Ambrose was the joint highest wicket-taker with Guyanese leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootooo, whose scalps were taken at 20.83 each.

For his effort and his consistency during the last few seasons, the 24-year-old Nagamootoo was named in the West Indies 20-man training squad in preparation for the first Test against Zimbabawe starting March 16.

The tournament's second-highest run-scorer was Jamaica all-rounder Laurie Williams who followed up his 378 runs (ave. 34.36) with 20 wickets (ave. 15.75), statistics which many believed should have landed him a call-up by the West Indies selectors.

The low quality of the batting was reflected in the fact that only three players averaged more than 40 with the bat. Apart from Gayle, the other two were Guyana captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul (315 runs at 52.50) and Windwards all-rounder Roy Marshall (289 at 41.28).

Apart from Ambrose and Nagamootoo, the leading wicket-takers were Barbados leg-spinner Dave Marshall (28 at 16.17), his teammate Hendy Bryan (25 at 19.84), Guyanese Reon King (22 in three matches at 13.68), Jamaican Franklyn Rose (22 at 14.72) and Barbadian Dayne Maynard (22 at 20.63).