West Indies Domestic: Fighting fit

The off-the-field hullabaloo surrounding Philo Wallace over the last few days has in no way bothered Barbados ahead of their Busta Cup semifinal against the Leeward Islands starting today.

And the stage is set for a showdown between two sides, each boasting of four regional first-class titles during the 1990s.

'I don't think it has had any effect on the team,' Barbados manager Tony Howard said yesterday in reference to skipper Wallace's one-match suspension that was eventually rescinded by authorities.

'We have put that all behind us. It's dead and done and we have a job tomorrow (today).'

As Barbados fine-tuned preparations for their decisive clash against the Leewards, Wallace, originally suspended for showing dissent in the final round preliminary match against Trinidad and Tobago last weekend, agreed with Howard that the team was in a state of readiness.

'I think we are mentally prepared. We're fit and we are looking forward to a good game,' he said.

His comments come after the uncertainty over his availability following the West Indies Cricket Board's decision Wednesday to cancel his one-match suspension on the grounds that match referee Anthony Lalacksingh made procedural errors.

With that out of the way, Barbados could concentrate on the areas that affected them during the preliminary round of the competition in which they secured the most points in a close table.

One such area was the batting and that was reflected in the fact that at no stage did the team manage a score a total of more than 272.

'The big concern in the preliminaries was our batting but I think the guys have been working very hard,' Wallace said.

He looked forward to the challenge of the Leeward Islands in an upbeat mood after taking most of the points when they sides met in the second round at Kensington Oval.

'We had a very good game against them in the preliminary round and now they are without their best batsman, Stuart Williams,' Wallace said.

'That is a bit of a relief for us, but we don't want to underestimate the 11 that they will put out.'

Williams, a prolific scorer against Barbados, especially in Barbados, is out of his third successive match with a fractured finger which was preceded by a hamstring injury.

In his absence, wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs leads a side which boast of the tournament's highest total of 398 for eight declared. This score was made in the same match in which the Windward Islands routed them for 85.

They lost their next match to Guyana but would have been encouraged by their convincing win in the last round against Jamaica.

The Leewards, who placed fourth in the preliminaries, have beaten Barbados four times at Kensington, but Barbados have the better record in clashes between the teams, winning ten of their 21 matches.