Windies seek first points (21 May 1999)

21 May 1999

Windies seek first points

Tony Cozier

The circumstances are peculiar and pressing enough to prompt the West Indies to treat today's second preliminary group match in the World Cup as if it was the final itself.

It is against Bangladesh, a team in its first World Cup. They have not had a single victory since granted full One-day International status following their triumph in the ICC Trophy tournament for non-Test countries in Malaysia in 1997 and were comfortably defeated in their opening match by New Zealand.

The dangerous sense of relaxation such opposition can prompt is compounded by the location. Cricket ranks far down the list among the sporting preferences of the Irish people for whom hurling and Gaelic football are the national passions, with soccer and rugby next in line.

It is the biggest occasion in the history of the Clontarf Cricket Club that hosts the match on its modest ground just outside Dublin's city centre.

Granted a World Cup match in keeping with the organisers' intention of spreading the cricketing gospel, they have proudly prepared for it for months. They have sold all the 3,500 tickets and will extend hospitality as only the Irish can. But its limitations, like so many county grounds in England, diminish the status of such a tournament.

All these reasons make it just the kind of venue that could witness an upset. Given their background, Bangladesh's chances of defeating the West Indies today rank about the same as Kenya's in India in the last World Cup in 1996-and we all know what happened then.

They are novices but they are not complete pushovers. They beat West Indies "A" 2-1 in the One-day series in Bangladesh late last year and, in their warm-up matches prior to this tournament, defeated both Essex and Middlesex, their middle-order batsman Khalid Mahmud scoring an unbeaten 108 against the former county.

All of this has been drilled into the West Indies by Clive Lloyd who knows all about Irish humiliations. He was in the team that was routed for 25 by Ireland in a One-day match in the Northern Ireland town on Sion Mills on the 1969 tour of Britain. Yet complacency is the most difficult of sporting afflictions to prevent.

Their loss to the confident Pakistanis in the opening match in Bristol on Sunday should be a powerful antidote to any smugness and, at least, there has been no compromise on team selection.

Lloyd said last night they would include four fast bowlers in the XI, a frank acknowledgement that they made a mistake in choosing only three in Bristol last Sunday, a major factor in their loss then.

There was some doubt last night over Curtly Ambrose who has a slight strain of his bowling shoulder, caused by throwing from the outfield in Sunday's match.

"It is nothing serious but we would not want to risk Curtly with three more matches to play,'' Lloyd said. "We will see how he feels in the morning. If he doesn't play, then Reon King will come in.''

Lloyd indicated that Hendy Bryan would replace the injured Keith Arthurton from the team that lost to Pakistan, presumably because he bats better than King, and that the final batting place would be between Stuart Williams, now recovered from a leg strain, and the newcomer Ricardo Powell who had a difficult debut against Pakistan.

"We've seen how the white ball is moving around for the fastbowlers and we have to strengthen that side of things,'' Lloyd said. "At the moment, there is really no place for spin but that could change if the weather gets drier and warmer.''

The team watched the closing stages of New Zealand's emphatic five-wicket victory over Australia at Cardiff which has thrown Group B wide open. It also gives even greater significance than previously to the West Indies' match against New Zealand in Southampton on Monday.

Pakistan and New Zealand have now won both their matches and are playing with a confidence that will be difficult to unsettle. New Zealand's resilience is similar to South Africa's as they came back from 49 for four, needing 214, and won with 4.4 overs to spare through a partnership of 148 between the left-handed, England-born Roger Twose and the talented all-rounder Chris Cairns.

"I think it was probably a good result for us,'' Lloyd said. "But we can't concern ourselves with what the other teams are doing. We've simply got to set out to win every match.''

Windies (from): Brian Lara (Capt), Sherwin Campbell, RidleyJacobs, Jimmy Adams, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Phil Simmons, Stuart Williams,Ricardo Powell, Hendy Bryan, Curtly Ambrose, Merv Dillon, Reon King,Courtney Walsh.

Bangladesh (from): Aminul Islam (Capt), Akram Khan, Enamul Hoque, Faroque Ahmed, Hasibul Hussain, Khalid Mahmud, Khalid Masud, MajurulIslam, Mohammed Raffique, Naimur Rahman, Shariar Hossain, Mehrab Hossain, Naimur Rahman.

Source :: The Trinidad Express