West Indies- Red Stripe News (11 Oct 1997)

Saturday, October 11, 1997

Brian Lara: Speaking out and mending fences

I'M a much more comfortable man today. My relationship with Courtney Walsh I think has strengthened even more with the outcome of recent unfortunate events.

Yesterday's Jamaican newspapers allowed my side of the story to be told, and I think this will have a positive influence on relations within the team, and especially between myself and my captain.

The majority of the West Indies team will be gathering here next week, with players representing their different territories in the final stages of the Red Stripe Bowl. I am sure that the members of the team will be happy with the final outcome of the so called controversy. All that matters now is that we return from Pakistan and Sharjah a successful and happy bunch of West Indian cricketers.

The knockout stage of the tournament has started. There will be no more experimenting. You'll be seeing the best possible XI taking the field. Nigel Francis, Kenneth Hazel, and Lincoln Roberts are the ones out for today. Our batting line-up will look something like this: Ragoo, Lawrence, Ganga, Lara, Simmo, Smithy, Willie, Bish, Dillon, Ramnarine, Dhanraj.

For the first time, we were able to have a full practice session at the UWI cricket ground. It was in some damp conditions, but we were still able to get a hit and our batsmen all had a chance in the middle. Particular attention was paid to our opening pair, Ragoonath and Lawrence. They had a much longer knock than anyone else, and I hope this will build their confidence for a big partnership today. Before we actually went out to the middle, we had our team meeting. This was very unusual, because it normally takes place at 6:00 o'clock the evening before the match. The reason for this is simply that we wanted to take whatever would be discussed into the practice session before the match.

The batsmen worked on their approach to the innings, and the bowlers concentrated on a particular line and length. The Windward Islands will be depending a lot on their in-form batsman, Dawnley Joseph. But I think he's due for a failure. His scores so far have been 71, 153 n.o., and 59, averaging a healthy 141.5 runs. He is to date the highest scoring batsman for our zone.

Hopefully the added pressure of being the main run-getter in all three matches for the Windwards so far would have an adverse effect on him.

I'll also be keeping my eye on John Sylvester, who I thought was playing very well against u, until he gave his wicket away. I think the lower order of the Windward Islands batting is very suspect against spin bowling. So we'll be looking towards Dhanraj or Dinas to wrap up their batting when it gets to that stage. Their bowling would still depend a lot on the effectiveness of their three fast bowlers: Nixon (McLean), Davis and Allen, so our batsmen should be looking to see them off.

Two spinners, Marshall and Lewis, complete their five bowlers. Our batsmen seem very comfortable against them. So we'll want to accelerate during their overs.

I also thought on both occasions at Chedwin Park the ball did a bit in the morning session, and it might influence my decision if I win the toss. Most likely, we will bowl first.

Our key player, Simmo, says he looks forward to beating the Windward Islands by an even wider margin than on Wednesday. What I'll say is that we're looking to show our dominance over the opposition in both batting and fielding.

We all went out to our first team dinner last night, at a very nice Chinese restaurant, and I must say the team looks in good spirits.

T&T look for runs

TODAY is quarterfinal day in the Red Stripe Bowl, both in Jamaica and in Guyana. And Trinidad and Tobago's cricketers are not simply looking ahead to the semi-finals; they are looking to bat their way there. The local team faces the Windward Islands at Chedwin Park in a do-or-die match.

However, after their comfortable seven-wicket win over Rawl Lewis' Windwards on Wednesday, the emphasis is on the positive. "After our game on Wednesday, naturally we are confident we will win," manager Rangy Nanan told the Express yesterday.

"But at the same time we are not going to be complacent." T&T cannot afford to be, for slip-ups have already caused them blushes. In the second Zone "A" match against hosts Jamaica, Brian Lara and his team were skittled for 84 in going down to a three-wicket defeat. The local side had been undone in the main by a top-order collapse that saw them losing their first three wickets for 12 runs. In the other two matches against Bermuda and the Windwards, the red, white and blacks also had to recover from shaky starts losing the first three wickets for 28 and 59 runs respectively. "What has been happening," Nanan said, "we have lost a couple wickets over the first 15 overs.

This is the worrying factor, that in the three games we have played so far, we have lost three wickets in the first 15 overs." "Against Bermuda," Nanan recounted (Suruj) Ragoonath got 26, (Darren) Ganga was unnecessarily run out and Lincoln (Roberts) went for a big drive and got bowled down."

'Against Jamaica, Lawrence played the ball in the air to backward square, Ragoonath got a good ball from (Franklyn) Rose that swung late." In particular, the lack of runs by key man, West Indies "A" opener Ragoonath has concerned both manager and captain. But both he and Nanan would have been encouraged by the way some of the lowerorder batsmen came through the midweek quarterfinals dress rehearsal.

Both Smith and national Under-19 captain Ganga hit unbeaten half-centuries and the manager said: "It was good to see the way Smith and Ganga batted, two other people beside Lara and Simmons making runs." Both players will be given the job of bolstering the early effort today against the useful Windwards attack of Caspar Davis and Ian Allen, and, if fit, Nixon McLean.

But changes have been made higher up. Number three, Lincoln Roberts, with just 30 runs in his three innings, has been left out of today's game. His place will be filled by a bowler, Dinanath Ramnarine who stays in the team to form a leg-spin duo with Rajindra Dhanraj. Dhanraj and fast bowlers Ian Bishop and Mervyn Dillon all return to the team, with Nigel Francis and Ken Hazel being the other players omitted. The line-up set, all that remains is to get on with the job of qualifying for the semi-finals and a possible clash with Guyana. That is something both the team and their captain appear ready to do.

And not even the latest "captaincy" controversy will distract Lara. That episode appeared to be put to rest yesterday when West Indies Board president Pat Rousseau met with both him and Courtney Walsh. "The newspapers are blowing it out of proportion," Nanan reported. "But Brian is far less concerned about that. He has one thing in set in his mind and that is to win the Red Stripe Bowl." And the Windwards may just get an indication of those intentions today. T&T Team: Brian Lara (Capt.), Suruj Ragoonath, Andre Lawrence, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara, Phil Simmons, Richard Smith, David Williams, Ian Bishop, Dinanath Ramnarine, Mervyn Dillon, Rajindra Dhanraj.

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