Manager says Bajans can do it without quartet (22 Jan 1998)

January 22 1998

Manager says Bajans can do it without quartet

by Haydn Gill

EARLY LEADERS Barbados start their third round PresidentÕs Cup cricket match against Guyana here today without four key players, but their manager is still quietly confident of maximum points against Carl HooperÕs team.

Batsmen Roland Holder and Floyd Reifer, wicket-keeper/batsman Ricky Hoyte and left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins, all of whom made important contributions in the first two matches are in Jamaica with the West Indies ÒAÓ team which opposes England, also beginning today.

Yet, Barbados manager Tony Howard has high hopes of a second successive victory following MondayÕs eight-wicket win over the Leeward Islands at Kensington Oval.

ÒIf we do the little things right again I think youÕre going to be surprised with our performance,Ó Howard told NATIONSPORT during a practice session at the Oval yesterday.

ÒThose four players are a loss. They are players of calibre and quality.

ÒNevertheless we played the first game without them and I donÕt think we did too badly. The replacements are adequate, the guys have confidence and I think theyÕll do a good job.Ó

Apart from the four forced changes, Barbados have also omitted left-handed all-rounder Ian Bradshaw. From the 13 named on Tuesday, they are expected to leave out opener Sean Armstrong and fast-medium Marlon Blagrove.

It means the five coming into the final XI would be batsman Horace Waldron, leg-spinning all-rounder Terry Rollock, wicket-keeper Courtney Browne, along with fast bowlers Ottis Gibson and Hattian Graham.

Graham missed the match against the Leewards because of a groin injury, while Gibson, a West Indies ÒAÓ selectee on the recent tour of South Africa, was in England on personal business.

ÒGibson has a lot to contribute to this team. One looks to him for experience,Ó Howard said of the tournamentÕs second highest wicket-taker last season.

He said the victory against the Leewards, achieved after an uncomfortable second day position of 44 for five in reply to the visitorsÕ 224, went a long way in lifting the morale of the team.

ÒWe were very confident all the way through the game,Ó he said.

ÒI understand there were some weak-hearted souls who thought at one stage we were going to be down and out, but at no time during the match did any of the team members think that we were going to do anything else other than win the game.Ó

TuesdayÕs win carried Philo WallaceÕs side to 20 points after two matches, four ahead of Trinidad and Tobago, who have played one match.

Recent history favours Barbados, but Guyana have a team that includes three players with Test experience, including the newly-appointed West Indies vice-captain Carl Hooper.

In Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and veteran left-handed opener Clayton Lambert, they have a respected batting line-up. In the absence of fast bowler Reon King, who is also in the West Indies ÒAÓ team, the bowling attack will revolve around leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo and left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell.

When the twoÊteams met in last yearÕs extended championship, Barbados won comfortably at Kensington Oval, while the match at Bourda ended in a thrilling draw that could have gone either way.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)