Lara sits out, T&T bid to end drought (20 March 1999)

20 March 1999

Lara sits out, T&T bid to end drought

Garth Wattley in Barbados

It is the Busta Cup final, the last game of the season. And, almost certainly, the last hurrah for David Williams.

When Ian Bishop and his Trinidad and Tobago cricket teammates begin the ultimate battle with hosts Barbados at the Kensington Oval here this morning, they will not only be trying to smash a 13-year blight. But also to win one for Willie.

That was one of the team mottos established at the start of the season when the 35-year-old wicketkeeper declared that this was to be his final fling for the red white and black.

And while the region's most successful gloveman ever is still reluctant to say publicly it is all over after so many seasons, the seemingly evergreen Williams admits "most likely" it is.

The desire to do it for Willie then, plus the determination to end the regional drought for Trinidad and Tobago cricket should be inspiration enough to make up for the disappointment of not having Brian Lara today.

The West Indies captain, who's 213 rallied his side to a ten-wicket win in the Second Test against Australia last week, was originally included in the squad of 13. But after seeing a doctor and physiotherapist for an update on his damaged wrist in Trinidad on Wednesday, Lara was withdrawn, according to manager Ellis Lewis, "in the best interests of West Indies cricket."

It was felt, said Lewis, that with back-to-back Tests beginning next week, to be followed by seven One-day Internationals, Lara should not expose his wrist to any additional wear and tear.

Opener Leon Romero, an early contributor to the team's success this season, flew in yesterday to make up the full complement of 13.

Lara's absence will perhaps make today's match slightly less of a spectacle for Caribbean viewers who will be seeing the regional final live.

And while the keen-eyed watchers who viewed T&T's practice session at the Spartan ground yesterday would not be too disappointed, Lara's withdrawal also deprives the visiting side of a decisive weapon.

But skipper Bishop is not fazed. "We've had to play without Brian for most of the season and (Dinanath) Ramnarine has not been around and we've managed to play well with what we have. We want to do this for Trinidad and Tobago as much as we want to do it for ourselves."

However, whether or not skipper Roland Holder passes a fitness test on his twisted ankle this morning, the unbeaten, well-knit Bajans, are also a focussed group.

Despite his Test failures, Sherwin Campbell has been a Busta Cup dynamo with 597 runs, while the quartet of Hendy Brian, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore and Winston Reid have been the most effective bowling attack so far.

"Certainly we are seeing the fruits of our labours with the concentration and fitness," says Bajan manager Tony Howard.

And while the preliminary round ten-wicket win over the visitors and home advantage are added confidence-boosters, Howard is not counting any chickens just yet. "Everything that's gone before has gone through the window. This is the final. The better-prepared team, the team hungrier for victory, will succeed."

Outward hunger is not reflected in Bishop's restraint either. But his sober, nurturing style of leadership has done much to get T&T to this stage as has the infectious enthusiasm of Williams and Phil Simmons, the only two survivors from T&T's last regional win in 1985.

But the charge of the young brigade is the prime reason why T&T have moved from joint fourth with Barbados last season into the final two.

And if Bishop is to enjoy a repeat of that historic 129-run win he achieved in his first stint as skipper in 1995, then Dennis Rampersad (328 runs) must finish the season as confidently as he started it. Mukesh Persad (21 wkts) and Marlon Black (20) must keep the wickets tumbling and Suruj Ragoonath, Daren Ganga and Lincoln Roberts must show again why the West Indies selectors have invested confidence in them.

Should they do that, then surely, they will bust the Bajans. And do a great one for Willie.

T&T (likely): Ian Bishop (Capt), Suruj Ragoonath, Daren Ganga, Dennis Rampersad, Lincoln Roberts, Richard Smith, Phil Simmons, David Williams, Mukesh Persad, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black.

Barbados: Roland Holder (Capt) Sherwin Campbell, Philo Wallace, Adrian Griffith, Floyd Reifer, Ryan Hinds, Courtney Browne, Winston Reid, Hendy Bryan, Pedro Collins, Ricky Hoyte, Dave Marshall, Shawn Graham.

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)

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20 March 1999

Serious business for Australians

The Trinidad Express

Australia's match against another collection of West Indian reserves, this one called the "A" team, starting at the Antigua Recreation Ground today, was no more than a leisurely interlude for them a week ago and another showcase for the promising young players of the Caribbean.

Suddenly, it has become altogether more serious business.

Australia's stunning defeat in the Second Test has brought them back to earth with a bump that has woken them up to deficiencies masked by their equally stunning victory in the First Test. For several West Indies players, the match is a virtual trial of fitness and form.

For both, individual performances are likely to dictate who they pick for the critical Third Test, starting at Kensington Oval next Friday.

Australia's concerns surround mainly-but not only-their champion leg-spinner Shane Warne. West Indian interest lies principally-but not solely-in the physical and mental readiness of the vital all-rounder, Carl Hooper, who captains the "A" team.

Hooper, seasoned campaigner of 78 Tests, has been in Australia with his wife and seriously ill infant son since the South African tour ended on February 8. He has played no cricket in the interim and only flew into Antigua yesterday afternoon, a day after he was due following flight delays along the way.

He is bound to return for next week's Test so a lengthy innings and a meaningful bowl would be welcome.

Opener Stuart Williams gets yet another chance to kickstart his dismal Test career while fast bowler Franklyn Rose plays his first match since recovering from the shoulder injury that ended his tour of South Africa immediately after his seven-wicket return in the first innings of the Third Test.

It is also another step in the rehabilitation of Nixon McLean, the West Indies's fastest bowler, whose Test place has been taken by left-armer Pedro Collins in the two Tests to date. For the Australians, Warne's ineffectiveness is not so much a headache as a migraine.

Test cricket's most prolific spin bowler, with 316 wickets in 70 Tests, only returned to the game last December after a major shoulder operation. He has taken only one wicket in 44 overs in the two Tests and even his mentor, Terry Jenner, an Australian leg-spinner of an earlier era, has acknowledged that he is "struggling".

Jenner is on his way to the Caribbean with one of the tour groups coming for the last two Tests but he won't arrive in time for this weekend. That is when the Australians will have to decide whether both Warne and his new leg-spin partner, Stuart MacGill, play in the Third Test as they did in the first two or, if only one, which one.

Warne feigned unconcern in Antigua yesterday. "I think I'm bowling really well," he said. "I created a few little half-chances in the last game but it just wasn't to be. I'm sure I'll catch up with TJ (Jenner) and he'll say be patient, don't try too hard which is what I might have been doing."

If Warne, who as team vice-captain is one of the selectors, does decide he is not bowling well enough to merit a place and stands down, it would have an enormous, contrasting, psychological impact on both teams.

It is essential for Australia that he bowl well over the next four days-and take the wickets he needs to rebuild his confidence. There are other peripheral considerations for the Australians.

Captain Steve Waugh has made it clear that he is unhappy with the batting and left-handers Matthew Elliot and Justin Langer can both consider themselves under scrutiny.

Openers Elliot would have been out for three successive 0s had Dave Joseph caught him at second slip off Curtly Ambrose in the second innings of the Sabina Test on Monday. As it was, he made only 14 and has cobbled together only 60 in his four innings.

Langer has been equally unconvincing at No.3 and has managed only one more run than Elliot. Ricky Ponting, the reserve batsman, is waiting in the wings to come either at No.3 or at No.6, should Greg Blewett move up to partner Michael Slater in place of Elliot.

Swing bowler Adam Dale, who has had only one match on tour in which he took seven for 24 in the first innings against the youthful Board XI, is down with a virus infection and will not play. Fast bowler Glenn McGrath has also been laid low by the same affliction but would not have been chosen in any case.

Australia: Steve Waugh (Capt), Michael Slater, Matthew Elliot, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Greg Blewett, Ian Healy, Shane Warne, Colin Miller, Stuart MacGill and Andy Bichel.

WI "A" Team: Carl Hooper (Capt), Stuart Williams, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ricardo Powell, Reynold McLean, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Matthew Sinclair, Franklyn Rose, Nixon McLean, Dwight Mais, Anthony Lake, Neil McGarrell.

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)