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The fabulous Barbadian and West Indies batting 'firm' of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes was followed splendidly by a most promising junior partnership yesterday.

Two younger batsman from that famous cricket factory, Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith, were the stars on the first day of the first Test at WestpacTrust Park.

The Campbell-Griffith first-wicket stand broke the old Haynes-Greenidge opening partnership record against New Zealand at 225, set 20 years ago, and seemed likely to overtake the all-time West Indies record of 296 set by the same two masters ten years ago against England.

In the event Campbell was out 14 minutes before stumps for a brilliant and classical 170 when the total was 276, and Griffith was still there on 103 as West Indies slammed the Test door in New Zealand's face with a first-day score of 282 for the one wicket.

Well poised

West Indies are now poised to take control of the Test, with the pitch promising to play easily for at least the next two days.

The Campbell-Griffith stand was the magnificent attraction of the day, but it was the final result of much back-room planning which drew deep on the skill and experience of the West Indian planners.

An hour before the start the pitch looked dry and firm, the green grass of the previous days was already beginning to brown. The West Indians' Plan 'A' was to win the toss, play three fast bowlers and the Trinidad leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine, and trust their judgement by batting first.

When Brian Lara won the toss and put Plan 'A' into operation, Stephen Fleming and his team-mates probably sighed with relief. They did not like the prospect of facing a strange and vigorous newball attack on a pitch they could not yet trust.

As the two Barbadians' marvellous opening stand surged along, starting with a slow movement, picking up the tempo with a barrage of boundaries immediately after lunch and tea, Lara and his experienced planners must have thought they were in a cricketing paradise.

Following the occupy-the-crease policy demanded by the team management and faced by accurate and varied New Zealand bowling, Campbell and Griffith started their long march together almost with tip-toeing timidity.

They carefully extracted 23 runs from the first hour and, as New Zealand worked through five bowlers including both spinners, went to lunch at 57 from 29 overs.

After lunch Campbell brought out more of his dashing strokes, reached his 50 from 101 balls, and the hour after lunch brought a flood of 87 runs from 17 overs. Then another quiet period. For while 135 runs came in the session, the second hour brought in 38 from 18 overs.

This included Campbell's century from 177 balls - the second 50 from 62 balls - and then another flurry of runs at the start of the journey toward stumps.

This had Campbell racing past 150 from 235 balls, with 100 runs in boundaries.

By this time Griffith was moving into stride after his early patience, and two cracking fours from Chris Cairns' first over with the second ball brought Griffith's first Test century - 116 balls over the first 50, 145 balls for the second, but one of those innings that could only be measured in character and concentration, and not by whether the runs came slower than the minutes.

Just when the pair promised to bat all day and bring down the Greenidge-Haynes record, Campbell made an ambitious swish at a bouncer from Nash.

© The Barbados Nation