Kingston too good for Westmoreland (20 July 1999)

20 July 1999

Kingston too good for Westmoreland

Tony Becca

Kingston CC successfully defended the Sandals all-island limited-over cricket competition with an emphatic victory over Westmoreland at Kaiser Sports Club on Saturday, and captain Lloyd Black and his players deserve a pat on the back for a good performance.

Champions are those who are good enough to deliver when it matters most and to stamp their class on the proceedings, and in retaining the title, the tigers of Sabina Park demonstrated the stuff of which champions are made.

Against the Jamaica Defence Force in the semi-finals, Kingston looked set to bow out of the race before, thanks to part-time bowler Valentino Ventura and his two wickets in the final over, they pulled off a dramatic victory to squeeze into the final; and on Saturday they were simply too good for Westmoreland - so much so that after the expectation of a stirring contest, the final was nothing more than an anti-climax.

To many of the fans present, Kingston's comfortable victory was due to the poor quality of Westmoreland's first four batsmen who plodded and blocked their way to a shade over one run an over in the first 25 of the 50 overs.

While it is true that Westmoreland's batting was disappointing, and that in holding back Paul Palmer and Cleveland Davidson and sending in their best and most experienced batsmen at number five and number six, Westmoreland played into Kingston's hands, the champions played well - no question about that.

In knocking off the team which eliminated Lucas - the Surrey Senior Cup and the Rothmans national champions, Kingston went at Westmoreland early, choked them with some splendid bowling by pacer Dwight Mais and left-arm spinner Matthew Fender who took one wicket while conceding only six runs in 10 consecutive overs, had them reeling at eight for two in the eighth over, and from there on, it was, for the challengers, a matter of survival in the search for a respectable total.

Sometimes, the performance of a team depends on how well the opposition allows it to play, and on Saturday, Kingston, led by Black who pressured the batsmen with some good bowling changes and field placings, never gave Westmoreland a chance. They hit them early and they never eased up.

The real disappointment on Saturday was the crowd support. A few years ago when Sandals took over the sponsorhip of the competition and it was decided to play the final in Discovery Bay, the support was promising. Each year, however, the crowd gets smaller and smaller, and may be the time has come for the sponsors and the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control to look at the situation and make a change.

Atmosphere is important in sport, and in the interest of cricket, may be the thing to do, as is the case in the semi-finals, is to play the final at the home ground of one the two teams.

That would guarantee support, and there should be no problems - not if the Board states at the start of the season where, based on the groups, the final will be played.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)