SPORTS

[insert pix p39-Lasith malinga with this caption: Lasith malinga enjoys the moment after taking four wickets with consecutive balls]

[insert pix p39-South Africa Celebrate wit this caption: a visibly-relieved SA side celebrate their one-wicket victory.]

South Africa survive Malinga's menacing spell

48.2 overs South Africa 212 for 9 (Kallis 86, Smith 59, Malinga 4-54) beat Sri Lanka 209 (Dilshan 58, Arnold 50, Langeveldt 5-39) by one wicket

An extraordinary spell of fast bowling from Lasith Malinga, where he strung together a devastating sequence of four wickets in four balls, threatened to produce the greatest one-day heist before South Africa scrambled to a dramatic one-wicket victory in a heart-stopping Super Eights clash in Guyana.

South Africa needed a meagre four runs to win with five wickets in hand when Malinga finished batsmen as if swatting flies. He fooled Shaun Pollock with a beauty of a slower ball before hurrying Andrew Hall with a juddering yorker that looped up to cover. The first ball of the next over produced the hat-trick, the fifth in World Cups, when the set Jacques Kallis nicked to the wicketkeeper before a brute of a yorker zoomed past Makhaya Ntini.

No bowler in one-day history has managed four in four - Saqlain Mushtaq has managed four in five - and Malinga took Sri Lanka to the brink of an outrageous day-light robbery. Robin Peterson and Charl Langeveldt survived a nervy 11 deliveries before a thick outside edge flew off Peterson's bat to seal the deal. South Africa have laughed off the tag of 'chokers' but they were a hairsbreadth away from out-doing their previous stumblings. Sri Lanka made far too many mistakes but the fact that they got so close was a testament to their depth and variety.

Malinga's burst overshadowed the first five-wicket haul of the tournament - Langeveldt's 5 for 39 which restricted Sri Lanka. South Africa had adjusted smartly to the slow, spongy pitch at the brand new Providence Stadium. The conditions were far removed from St Kitts, where South Africa were based during the first round. At Providence, the ground was much larger, the pitch slower, and batsmen relied on nudges rather than lofts. The conditions should have suited Sri Lanka but poor shot selection from the top order and reckless slogs from the tail pegged them back. South Africa's seamers, led by the skiddy Langeveldt, turned in an efficient performance under gloomy skies before Graeme Smith and Kallis steered the run-chase with contrasting half-centuries

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[insert pix p39-Hogg & McGrath with this caption: Glenn McGrath and Brad Hogg, who claimed three wickets each for Australia]

[insert pix p39-Denesh Ramdin _ a valiant 52]

West Indies suffer severe blow

Australia 322 for 6 (Hayden 158) beat West Indies 219 (Lara 77) by 103 runs

West Indies, who fancy their chances to be the first host team to win a World Cup, suffered their opening loss of the tournament, a thumping one at that, against a rampant Australia that is slowly building up ominous momentum. Matthew Hayden set the game up with an innings of tremendous control and power on a first day cut in half by rain, and the bowlers backed it up with a cool performance on the second.

Chasing 323 against Australia's varied attack is a tough ask at the best of times. Fortunately for the West Indians, the dampness caused by the overnight drizzle at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua did nothing to cause exaggerated assistance for the fast bowlers early on.

Nathan Bracken was steady, moving the ball a touch, but the approach of West Indies' openers was strange. Chris Gayle, who they look to for a big start, crawled into his shell, defending, prodding, poking and driving straight to the field. It didn't help that Shivnarine Chanderpaul was done in by a combination of pace from Shaun Tait and umpiring error from Asad Rauf, when a ball pitching on the stumps and slanting away thudded into his pad. The appeal for lbw was upheld even though the ball appeared to be missing the off stump.

Gayle, bottled up and tied down, decided to break the shackles, but chose the wrong bowler to attack. He played an ambitious pull off Glenn McGrath and as the top edge speared in the air, Shane Watson settled under it. Gayle's 2 off 23 balls had left West Indies well behind the required rate at 16 for 2 in the eighth over. Then Marlon Samuels had one of his brainwaves, charging down the pitch and attempting a one-handed shot that only went up in the air for Andrew Symonds to pocket.

Ramnaresh Sarwan partnered Brian Lara for a time, watching from the non-striker's end as one beautiful cover-drive after another whistled past the infield. But having made 29 off 58 balls, Sarwan came down the pitch to a Brad Hogg full-toss and thumped it straight to midwicket. Dwayne Bravo would only waste 10 balls, carving McGrath straight to Ricky Ponting at cover, leaving West Indies on 107 for 5 in the 29th over, and well off the pace in pursuit of their target.

With the required run-rate climbing past ten, the need of the hour was a Lara innings that could better what Hayden came up with on Wednesday. All the signs were there. He looked to attack and chose the bowlers and deliveries to do so almost perfectly. Hogg, tossing the ball and spinning it one way or the other, posed little problem as Lara read the spin effortlessly out of the hand. He could come down the pitch and hit through the line into the stands as he pleased. After one such particularly belligerent thrash, Hogg got his revenge. Lara, on 77, aimed to jam a very full delivery from Hogg down to third man, missed, and was trapped in front.

Denesh Ramdin beavered away to a half-century, but Dwayne Smith failed, becoming Hogg's third victim, trapped lbw. Symonds helped himself to the wicket of Jerome Taylor, and soon enough the end came, with West Indies all out for 219, and losing by 103 runs.

Had it not been for Lara's innings, the margin of victory would have been much bigger, and this is relevant, with net run rates possibly coming into play in this section of the tournament. Australia, after being put in to bat, had played their cards just right. They quickly realised that this was not one of those grounds with the small straight boundaries - like Warner Park in St Kitts where they played South Africa in that high-scoring affair - and adjusted their style of play.

Hayden spent 18 balls getting off the mark - and even with Adam Gilchrist falling early, and Ponting being run out after looking in good touch - stayed true to the plan he had for himself. He hustled more than he muscled, using the big shots only when he was absolutely sure of clearing the field. That no other Australian batsman managed a half-century, Michael Clarke's 41 being the second best, didn't matter, simply because Hayden batted for 47.1 overs, allowing the others to chip in around him during his 158.

Hayden's ninth one-day century - it's tough to believe he's made that few - was one of two distinct parts. He reached 58 off 80 balls and the next 100 he scored came from only 63. With Watson swatting 33 off 26 in the end, Australia had made 322 on a ground where less might have sufficed even without the rain. (Cricinfo)

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THE CRICKET PUNDIT

Gladstone Critchlow Column

[insert pix p42-Conrad Hunte; p41-Gordon Greenidge; p41-Desmond Haynes]

WEST INDIES OPENING BATSMEN

by Gladstone Critchlow

Batting was the last aspect of West Indies cricket to be developed since the game began in the region in 1865. While bowlers reaped rich dividends, teams found it difficult to compile innings totals of a hundred and more runs during the first quarter century of West Indies cricket. Individual fifties were rarely scored and the Guyanese captain and wicket-keeper E. F. Wright, an Englishman and former teammate of England and Gloucestershire batsman, Dr. G. W. Grace hit 123, the first regional century against Trinidad and Tobago at the Parade Ground, Georgetown in 1882. It was however not until at Bourda, Georgetown in the Intercolonial Cup of 1895, that Cecil King, a Guyanese opening batsman and policeman scored 135 against Trinidad and Tobago which was the second hundred in regional cricket.

Reliable pairs of opening batsmen were unheard of and King 135 and his opening partner M. K. North who scored 36 in 1895 were the first opening pair in West Indies cricket to record an opening partnership of a hundred and more runs. It was not until in the 1920’s, that the first pair of consistent West Indies opening batsmen came to the fore when the Barbadian opening batsmen, George Challenor 104 and Tim Tarilton 304 not out hit 180 batting together against Trinidad and Tobago at Bridgetown in 1920, Challenor 96 and Tarilton 100 against Trinidad and Tobago at Bourda in 1922 and Challenor 237 and Tarilton 74 against Jamaica at Bridgetown in 1925. However, when the West Indies toured England in 1928 to play in their first Test series, Tarilton and Challenor were well in their forties and only Challenor made the tour.

The first pair of opening batsmen for the West Indies was George Challenor and the Jamaican Frank Martin who opened in the first Test at Lord’s scoring 86 runs together. The Trinidad and Tobago batsman Clifford Roach took Martin’s place in the other two matches of the series with opening stands of 48 and 91 runs.

When England made their first tour of the Caribbean in 1929-30, the West Indies adapted the new strategy of opening their innings with wicket-keepers. In the first Test at Bridgetown, Clifford Roach became the main opening batsman and was joined by his captain E. L. G. Hoad. In the second Test at Port of Spain, Voce dismissed him for a pair and he asked to be dropped from the third Test in Georgetown. The selectors declined his request and he hit 209 with wicket-keeper Errol Hunte to become the first West Indies batsman to record both the first century and the first double century in West Indies cricket opening the innings. In the final Test in Kingston, Karl Nunes led the side but did not keep wickets but chose to open the innings with Roach scoring 66 and 92.

Clifford Roach was also the leading opening batsman when Jackie Hendricks took the West Indies to Australia in 1930-31. He opened with L. S. Birkett in the first two Tests and with Frank Martin in the final three matches with Martin scoring 123 in the final Test at Sydney. Roach opened in all three matches in England in 1933 with wicket-keeper Ivan Barrow who hit 105 at Manchester while Roach made his second pair opening the innings.

When England toured the West Indies for the second time in 1934-35, the West Indies suffered their worst opening stands. Clifford Roach played in his last Test match at Barbados with the Barbadian opener George Carew at Bridgetown. Two Guyanese batsmen, wicket-keeper Cyril Christiani and Charlie Jones opened in Port of Spain, two more Guyanese batsmen, Charlie Jones and Kenny Wishart opened at Bourda, Georgetown and in the final Test in Kingston, two wicket- keepers Ivan Barrow and Cyril Christiani opened the innings, a first in Test cricket. At no time in the series did any pair of the West Indies opening batsmen reach 50 batting together. The only glimmer of hope was that Kenny Wishart, the Guyanese batsman scored 52 in his only Test match.

Jeff Stollmeyer showed some promise as an opener when he opened in all three Tests when the West Indies toured England in 1939 before the start of World War Two. Opening with his captain Rolph Grant, he hit two fifties. When England paid their third visit in 1947-48, George Headley opened with Jeff Stollmeyer and the young Clyde Walcott in Bridgetown making his Test debut as wicket-keeper and opening batsman.

The West Indies had their first fine start in Test cricket when in the second Test in Port of Spain the Barbadian opener George Carew hit 107 and Andy Ganteaume, the Trinidad and Tobago batsman making his Test debut scored 112 in an opening stand of 173 runs in a match in which all four opening batsmen scored hundreds. However, Ganteaume was dropped from the Bourda Test for batting too slowly and never appeared again in a Test match.

On the West Indies first tour of India in 1948-49, Allen Rae, the left handed Jamaican batsmen and Jeff Stollmeyer became the first regular pair of opening batsmen. Batting together in four of the five matches played they scored 8 and 13, 104 and 66, 109 and 160, 7 and 97 and 85 and 18. When John Goddard took the side to England in 1950, they also performed well. Rae and Stollmeyer was the first successful pair of West Indies opening batsmen . They opened together in 13 Test matches, scored 1,349 runs with a high average of 71.00 with five hundreds and three fifties between them.

Ken Rickards of Jamaica, Roy Marshall of Barbados, Bruce Pairaudeau of Guyana, J. K. Holt of Jamaica Hammond Furlonge and Alfie Binns of Jamaica had useful but not interesting opening spells with Rae and Stollmeyer. There were also makeshift opening partnerships with J.K. Holt and Glendon Gibbs with Frank Worrell and Garfield Sobers.

When John Goddard took the West Indies to England in 1957, Bruce Pairaudeau and Rohan Kanhai opened in the first Test at Birmingham, Kanhai and Asgarali in the second Test at Lord’s and Frank Worrell and Gary Sobers at Trent Bridge where Worrell carried his bat through the innings for 191 not out and Sobers hit 47 in an opening stand of 87.

When Pakistan made their first tour of the West Indies in 1957, Conrad Hunte took over as the leading opening batsman and carried Kanhai along with him until Sobers took Kanhai’s place at Georgetown, Bourda hitting 125, his first Test hundred as an opening batsman.

Conrad Hunte, one of the leading opening batsmen in West Indies cricket was very unfortunate in not having a regular opening partner in his career. In 44 Tests and 79 innings, Hunte had twelve opening partners including Easton McMorris 19 innings, J. K. Holt 11 innings, Camie Smith 10 innings, Seymour Nurse 8 innings, Joey Carew 6 innings, Rohan Kanhai 6 innings, Robin Bynoe 5 innings, Charlie Davis 4 innings, Joe Carew and Rodrigues two innings each and Gary Sobers in one innings.

Roy Fredericks also had some difficulty in finding good opening partners until he settled down with Lawrence Rowe and Gordon Greenidge. He began his career opening with Stephen Camacho in Australia 1967-78 and completed the tour to New Zealand with Joey Carew. When India toured the West Indies in 1970-71, he opened with Camacho, Carew, Desmond Lewis, and when New Zealand toured in 1971-72, Geoffrey Greenidge was his fourth partner and he was joined by Maurice Foster.

In England in 1973, Ron Headley and Deryck Murray were his new opening partners and when England came to the West Indies in 1973-74, Lawrence Rowe became his first regular partner and in their first seven innings together, they had one partnership of 200 and more runs, two of 100 and more runs and one of 50 and more runs.

When Lloyd took over the captaincy of the West Indies Gordon Greenidge began his Test career opening with Fredericks in India in 1974-75 with an opening partnership of 177 in the very first Test at Bangalore and followed this up with 81 and 75 at Bombay. Then Greenidge failed to negotiate the bounce on Australian pitches in the disastrous tour of 1975-76 and they did not open together until the 1976 tour of the West Indies in 1976.

Despite the setback, Roy Fredericks and Gordon Greenidge opened in 16 Tests of 31 innings scored 1,593 runs together including five hundreds and five fifties.

Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes are not only the longest but the most successful pair of opening batsmen ever to play Test cricket. They possessed the knack of batting together, of supporting the other and of setting goals. They played together in 89 Test matches of 148 innings, of eleven unbroken partnerships and scored 6,483 runs together hitting 16 hundreds and 26 fifties between them. Their highest stand was 298 at an average of 47.32. They won48 of the Test matches they played in, lost 8 and drew thirty-three.

Chris Gayle followed Greenidge and Haynes as the new West Indies opening batsman. In 64 Test matches, he scored 4,259 runs with 317 against South Africa hitting seven centuries and twenty-six fifties with an average of 38.71. At the Queen’s Sports Club at Bulawayo, he hit 175 and his partner Daren Ganga 89 in the opening partnership of 217. However, he has not maintained the consistency with any partner to be placed in the class of the opening partnerships of Rae- Stollmeyer, Fredericks- Greenidge or Greenidge- Haynes.

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Another thumping for West Indies

New Zealand 179 for 3 (Styris 80*) beat West Indies 177 (Gayle 44, Oram 3-23) by seven wickets

West Indies might have begun the World Cup with hopes of breaking the home-team jinx and winning the big prize, but two losses over three days in the Super Eights have dented their chances, leaving them with plenty of work to do in their remaining four games. Australia dispatched them by 103 runs, New Zealand comfortably enough by seven wickets, and the shoulders of the men in maroon drooped just a touch by the end of a tiring few days.

Things went wrong from the word go, when Stephen Fleming won the toss, and having judged the pitch and conditions perfectly, put West Indies in. Shane Bond justified Fleming's decision by producing the opening spell of the tournament, swinging the ball prodigiously at high pace, and it was only some extremely circumspect batting from the West Indian openers that ensured that wickets didn't fall in a heap. The New Zealand bowlers whittled away, and after 25 overs West Indies were not too well placed at 89 for 4.

Bond hustled at genuine pace and almost every ball swung late and left the left-handed openers. There was plenty of playing and missing, and certainly no attempt at any big shots. Eventually it got to Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who played well in front of his body and only managed an edge to Scott Styris at second slip.

Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan then continued the job of seeing off Bond, and slowly the scoring opportunities arose. Sarwan crunched a crisp extra-cover drive, Gayle thumped more than one ball over mid-off, and a partnership began to build. But, at 66, Sarwan chopped hard at a ball from Jacob Oram that was too close to the stumps and the thick inside edge was brilliantly caught by Brendon McCullum diving to his left, snatching it one-handed just inches from the ground.

The Oram-McCullum combination claimed its second victim when Marlon Samuels failed to withdraw his bat and gloves in time to a ball that pitched on a length and reared up more sharply than he expected. Oram took his third wicket when Gayle, on 44, made a bit of room and shaped to cut, but ended up dragging the ball back onto his stumps. At 81 for 4 West Indies were in more than a spot of bother.

Brian Lara eased the pain a bit with a measured innings, bringing some semblance of control to the batting. Although not at his four-hitting best, Lara was at least on top of the proceedings, keeping the scoreboard ticking over, breathing life into an innings that was in danger of lapsing quietly into deep sleep. Dwayne Bravo did his best to help Lara along, adding 47 for the fifth wicket. Bond, brought back into the attack to nip the partnership in the bud before it became really dangerous, struck right away. He bowled one just around off that held its line, and Bravo, expecting the ball to come in, pushed at it, handing McCullum his third catch of the innings.

When Lara fell soon after, for 37, with the team score only 150, the alarm bells were clanging. Lara played an uncharacteristic and ungainly across-the-line slog against an offcutter, and inside-edged to McCullum, who was standing up to the stumps to Styris.

Denesh Ramdin, fresh from a half-century against Australia, could only make 15 before tamely chipping Daniel Vettori to point. At the meantime Lendl Simmons - an opener for West Indies Under-19, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies A and the senior team - was sent out to bat at No. 8 and clearly didn't relish the task. He played out a maiden in the 39th over of the innings, and struggled to 3 off 19 balls, before finally deciding to play a few shots. Dwayne Smith mowed, missed and was bowled by Vettori. Daren Powell proffered pad to a full, straight ball, and Bond nailed Corey Collymore to end the West Indian innings on 177.

When West Indies set out to defend a fairly indefensible 177 they needed one of Powell or Collymore to provide a blistering start. Powell bounded in with admirable enthusiasm, and a peach of a delivery, just the second of the innings, came in with the angle just enough and straightened to peg the top of Peter Fulton's middle-stump. Hamish Marshall soon became Powell's second victim, half-checking a drive to Lara at mid-off. New Zealand's lot could have been even worse had a couple of close shouts for lbw been upheld.

But then Fleming, who intelligently bided his time against Powell, built a partnership with Scott Styris. The two added 41 for the third wicket, and appeared to be comfortably heading towards the target, when, under a slight drizzle, Fleming took off for a nonexistent single and Lara nailed down the stumps with Fleming nowhere in the picture. He made 45 and New Zealand were 77 for 3.

From there on, only a brief shower halted New Zealand's canter to victory. Styris helped himself to an unbeaten 80, beginning slowly but in determined fashion, and accelerating to the point where he sealed the deal with a flourish as a seven-wicket win left New Zealand sitting pretty in the competition.

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[insert pix p42-Rudy Bishop]

FUN-A-RAMA in Atlanta

A group of concerned Guyanese has formed and incorporated a new body called the Guyana Ex-National Athletes Association of USA. The main purpose of the grouping is to raise funds to assist Guyanese athletes and other artistes who have represented their country in various spheres over the years. Many have found themselves in positions of indigence and can be seen soliciting assistance from former friends.

The man at the helm of this organization is Rudy Bishop, leader of the world-renowned Chronicle Atlantic Symphony Steel & Brass Orchestra which is now based in New York. Vice-President is Keith ‘Wiler’ Niles, Secretary-Treasurer is Patrick ‘Labba’ Barton with Ronald Barrington as Assistant Secretary and Director of Planning, Jack Warner. Board directors are: Keith Smartt, Dennis Collison, Wesley Kirton and Rawle Blackmam.

According to Bishop, "Whenever one goes back home it is so pathetic to see our former Nationals begging for ‘a raise.’ The government does absolutely nothing to help those artistes who so proudly gave of their best for their country. We want to redress this situation. Hopefully we can raise enough money with a series of fund-raising events to establish some kind of soup kitchen and shelter for the unfortunate ones."

One such event – FUN-A-RAMA - will take place over the Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta. Saturday, May 26 is the big day at the Panterville Stadium with fun games, sports, music, food and drinks. A seven-a-side soccer tournament for the Father Niles Memorial Trophy along with $3,000 in cash prizes will feature teams from Pele (NY), Santos (NY), Starliners (DC), Camptown (NY), Thomas United (NY) and two others from Canada and Florida.

Expected to be there mingling with the crowd: (Athletes) June Griffith-Collison, Dennis Collison, James Wren Gilkes, Jennifer Inniss; (Boxers) Lennox Blackmoore, Vernon Lewis, Patrick Forde, Vivian Harris; (Soccer players) Niles, Barton, Ken Gibbs, Terrence Archer, Colin Hinds. (Look out for more info in the next issue)