T Becca: Batting a chronic problem for Jamaica (24 Oct1997)

24 Oct 1997

Batting a chronic problem for Jamaica

Tony Becca

Jamaica's disappointing batting during the Red Stripe Bowl continues to be the topic of discussions among cricket fans, and based on the heated debates, it may be so for a long time.

Jamaicans love to win, when they lose they are mad, and the fans believe that Jamaica failed to even get to the final because the batsmen performed way below standard.

As disappointing as the batsmen were however, it was not all their fault - certainly not in the do-or-die semi-final match against the Leeward Islands.

A total of 214 runs on a good pitch in a limited over match is not a command performance. It at least gave the bowlers a chance, but they muffed it. Courtney Walsh, Franklyn Rose, Patrick Patterson and Laurie Williams bowled far too short and were hammered all over the place.

The batsmen deserve to be criticised - especially as their poor performance has become chronic. There were other things which contributed to the poor performance of the team - things which probably influenced the performance of the batsmen throughout the tournament, the performance of the bowlers in the semi-final and which those charged with the development of the country's cricket must address.

Top of the list appears to be the players' approach to the game. In the semi-final match, for example, the Leeward Islands players looked sharp in their uniform and seemed focused and prepared for the contest while going through their warm-up exercises before the start of play.

The Jamaicans however, did not.

With the players wearing at least four different coloured track suits, Jamaica did not look like a team, and the number of times players walked on and off the field and chatted with the spectators suggested that they were not focused on the job ahead of them.

The contrast between the business-like approach of the Leeward Islands and the picnic-like approach of Jamaica was such that spectators commented on it - some of whom went as far as to say that they would not be surprised if Jamaica lost the game.

The impression given by the Leeward Islands was that they were there to win. The impression presented by Jamaica was that it did not matter.

It is difficult to believe that it did not matter to Jamaica whether they won or not, and there are a number of players on the team who would die for Jamaica. The fact however, is that as a team, the players did not look ready for the contest - and it was even worse when they were under pressure in the field.

With Stuart Williams and Lanville Harrigan and later Keith Arthurton and Sylvester Joseph ripping the bowling apart, Jamaica appeared as if they had surrendered. There was no fight, no one urging his colleagues on. It was as if they were simply waiting for the end to come.

For a country which has produced so many champions, men and women to whom representing one's country was the greatest honour of all, men and women who prepared themselves - physically and mentally - in the hope of bringing glory to themselves and their country, men and women who would rather die than surrender, the attitude of Jamaica's cricketers before and during the match left much to be desired.

Jamaica's batting has for too long been an embarrassment, but it probably has nothing to do with lack of technique or the lack of confidence. Remembering how well some of the batsmen performed as youngsters and what they promised then, maybe it has to do with the sort of attitude displayed on Saturday at Kaiser.

Batting is an art in which one mistake can mean the end of an innings, and although some of them are technically weak, although some of them do not train regularly and seriously enough, maybe Jamaica's batsmen are failing, not because they cannot bat, but because they do not prepare themselves mentally before they go out to bat.

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