After leading Guyana to three consecutive victories on theirway to the Red Stripe Bowl semifinal last week, Carl Hooperwas moved to bemoan the general standard of the cricket
Tony Cozier14-Oct-2001After leading Guyana to three consecutive victories on theirway to the Red Stripe Bowl semifinal last week, Carl Hooperwas moved to bemoan the general standard of the cricket.Nothing he saw in the two semifinals at Kaiser Sports Clubin Jamaica on Thursday and Friday would have relieved hisworries as he considers the players likely to form the WestIndies team for the World Cup in South Africa that is only ayear-and-a-half away. As derided as it is by thetraditionalists, the One-Day game demands as much cricketingintelligence and astuteness as the more protracted version.Because, and not in spite, of all its limitations, itssituations change fast and frequently, testing the wits ofcaptains and players. There is no second innings so there isno coming back.One poor shot, one wide ball, one fumble, one missed chance,one poorly set fielder could mean the match. Test cricket isnot nearly as unforgiving of mistakes.And mistakes there were on Thursday and Friday by thedozens.What would have concerned Hooper especially was that amongthe most culpable were those he is likely to lead onto thefield at the Newlands ground in Cape Town for the World Cupopener against South Africa in February, 2003. Here are buta few examples.In the first semifinal, on a pitch so damp that MichaelHolding’s fingernail made a sizeable scratch on the surface,a couple of deliveries leapt at Leon Garrick in the firstover to strike glove and body.This was a time for care and concentration. Instead, ChrisGayle, the West Indies’ finest young batsman and, on allevidence, one whose appetite for big scores in insatiable,tried to hoist Reon King out of the ground with the fifthball he received. The resulting skied catch to point waspredictable and damning.Gayle’s previous two innings in the tournament had broughthim hundreds and the two before that in domestic countycricket in Jamaica two more. Perhaps he was undone byoverconfidence.It was a crucial mistake.Another 27 overs on, with Jamaica battling to rebuild afaltering innings, Marlon Samuels, another rising youngbatsman, bowed to the pressure of eeking out 15 runs from 57balls. Pulling wildly across the modest leg-spin onSewnarine Chattergoon, he was bowled, leaving captain RobertSamuels and the tail to salvage what they could from theshambles for 75 for five.Shabby Guyanese bowling and fielding and purposeful battingby the experienced Samuels and the fluent Gareth Breeseyielded 107 from the last 15 overs and raised Jamaica’stotal to 191 for nine, still only modest but far more thanhad seemed possible.At 134 for five after 40 overs in reply, Guyana had thematch in hand before Mahendra Nagamootoo, a usually sensiblecricketer with both Tests and One-Day Internationals on hisrecord, chose the game’s most contorted stroke as his bestoption. He was inevitably bowled when he missed his reversesweep.At the other end, his brother, Vishal, backed up so far hewas run out without receiving a ball, another victim ofcricketing lunacy.Onto the second semifinal the next day and there was moremadness, this time on the Trinidad and Tobago side. Theirmajor batsmen simply failed to acknowledge an earlier lessonin proper tactical batting by Floyd Reifer and Ryan Hinds,who breathed life back into a Barbados innings that was allbut lifeless.By sensible, orthodox methods, Reifer and Hinds graduallylifted Barbados’ spirits and punched increasingly largeholes in the Trinidadian balloon.There was no panic, no cross-batted swings, no desperatemethods, just methodical progress to a point from which thetempo could be increased and a challenging target set.A pitch of uneven bounce and variable pace meant drivingthrough the line was a hazard to be avoided. The 220required would have to be reached by careful, orthodoxbatting. So what happened?Andy Action Jackson, so named after his earlier hundred off47 balls against the North Windwards, Brian Lara and DarenGanga all drove expansively and into the hands of off-sidefielders. Lincoln Roberts, pinned down for 32 balls for six,swiped a high catch to long-on.It was the kind of cricket that had plenty of heads aroundKaiser shaking in despair. Hooper’s and the other headsplanning the West Indies World Cup campaign are likely toturn grey if it continues much longer.