22 minutes of glory ... then rain

By Garth Wattley

21 July 1998


THE Windward Islands young cricketers enjoyed 22 minutes of glory yesterday morning. But their joy was fleeting. And so was the cricket.

When the first and heaviest shower of the morning drove the players from the Queen's Park Oval field with hosts Trinidad and Tobago struggling on nine in five overs, captain Kevil George and his men were left frustrated.

A combination of the morning showers and a soggy, muddy outfield brought added frustration for the region's NorTel cricketers.

While 22 minutes and five overs were possible at the Oval, not a ball was bowled at the Squadron ground in Arouca where Barbados and the Leeward Islands were to do battle. Neither was there action at the Powergen ground where the NorTel development team and Canada were to play.

A brand new limited overs competition this may be. But change has brought no change at all. Except for Jamaica.

The fancied Jamaicans, taking advantage of the best weather of the day down at Gilbert Park, surged to the front with a convincing 51-run victory over six-in-a-row defending champions Guyana.

For this important, morale-boosting triumph, the reggae youth had to thank openers Chris Gayle (67) and Rayon Smith (49). Their fine stand of 123 set up the Jamaica total of 204 for 6 off 48 overs.

While Steve Massaiah managed 54, no one else reached 40, skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan got just 26 while Ricardo Powell (2 for 25) and Devon Brown (2 for 12) made the wicket-taking work a team effort for Jamaica.

The team will also need to rally for the homesters. When play resumes on this reserve day, T&T will be attempting to mount a competitive total without their skipper in what is now a 47- overs-a-side game.

Teams:

Trinidad and Tobago:

Darren Ganga (Capt.), Andy Jackson, Sherwin Ganga, Imran Jan, Zaheer Ali, Ricardo Paty, Navin Chan, Asif Jan, Dave Mohammed, Theodore Modeste, Kishore Lalchan.

Windwards:

Kevil George (Capt.), Selvon Smith, Joseph Parillon, Danny Harris, Kenroy Martin, Kelon George, Hezrin Lawrence, Stephen John, Camilus Alexander, Uroy Phillip, Troy George.

Scores:

AT POWERGEN PENAL:

NorTel v Canada (Match called off for the day due to a water-logged outfield).

AT SQUADRON:

Barbados v Leeward Islands (Match called off for the day due to rain and water-logged outfield).

AT QUEEN'S PARK OVAL:

Trinidad and Tobago 9-2 (Rain and a water-logged outfield ended play for the day in the match which has been reduced to 47 overs).

AT GILBERT PARK: Jamaica won by 51 runs.

Jamaica 204 - 6, 48 overs (Chris Gayle 67, Rayon Smith 49, M.Samuel 23, R.Powell 20; H.Hemnarine 3-22) v Guyana 153-8, 48 overs (Steve Massiah 54, Ramnaresh Sarwan 26; Ricrado Powell 2/25, Devon Brown 2/12).


Source: The Express (Trinidad)

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Date-stamped : 07 Oct1998 - 04:20