Date-stamped : 08 Dec93 - 10:05 SOURCE: The Guardian DATE: 15 April 1993 SPO PAGE: 17 Cricket: West Indies v Pakistan: first Test match: Tour saved as the smoke clears MIKE SELVEY The Test series starts a day late but despite everything it goes ahead. Mike Selvey in Port of Spain on Pakistan's decision to plough on AFTER a week that has produced enough drama, tension, plotting, accusation and denial to fill any blockbuster, Pakistan's tour of the Caribbean rumbled slowly back into life yesterday. At lunchtime it was officially announced by the West Indies Cricket Board that the first of the three Tests would begin at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad tomorrow, a day later than scheduled. By then the Pakistan team had preempted the statement by packing their cricket bags and setting off for their first training ses- sion in the six days since four of their number - Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aaqib Javed - were arrested and accused of possessing marijuana during the Grenada leg of their tour. The charges were subsequently dropped but Pakistani threats to abandon the tour had persisted. In his statement announcing the rearranged start, Steve Camacho, the secretary of the WICB, expressed regret for any embarrassment caused to the Pakistan team by the incident and said that every effort would be made to ensure the security of the team for the remainder of the tour. The recriminations may persist for some time yet, however, with the lingering possiblity that those Pakistani players involved may take legal action against the Grenadian authorities. In that event, according to Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, the human-rights lawyer who took up the players' cause, punitive damages for such high-profile sportsmen could amount to Much of the doubt surrounding the continuation or abandonment of the tour centred on the question of whether an apology would be forthcoming, whether the safety of the players would be guaranteed, and whether indeed the tourists were in a proper state of mind to go into a Test series after what Maharaj is con- vinced was a set-up. ''We had a long meeting with the West Indies board on Tuesday night,'' the Pakistan team manager Khalid Mahmood said yesterday, ''and I told them the situation and how we feel. ''The team are upset and dejected by their traumatic experience. They have been through hell, and wanted to leave the Caribbean as soon as possible. They had not been left with any physical ener- gy, strength or will to play cricket. It has been an indignity and a humiliation.'' However, despite repeated expressions of pessimism, both Mah- mood, the team coach Mudassar Nazar and indeed Wasim himself were clearly mindful of their responsibility to complete their touring obligations. ''The players are not 100 per cent,'' said Mudassar, ''but life goes on. It took much persuasion but we came here to play cricket and, although it won't be easy, these are grown-up people. I'm still shocked myself, and it will take a lot of char- acter to come out of this debacle.'' For his part, Wasim looked decidedly chirpy as he set off for net practice. He still had the stitches on a substantial cut around his right eye that he sustained when he fell during his arrest, and that apparently was not treated for several hours. ''It's the worst build-up to any Test I've been involved in, but we have come back from adversity before. Win or lose, we have to be positive about it. I have always wanted to play this competi- tion.'' Whether, despite all the talk, there was ever any real danger of the tour being called off is debatable. If they were indeed framed and ill-treated at the hands of the Grenadian police, then the players have every right to be indignant. But as Mahmood says, they also have responsibilities, and the repercussions of abandoning such a tour could have been huge. Over the years the West Indies board has lost substantial sums of money hosting tours, but this time with sponsorship and money from television, much of it coming from Pakistan, it stands to make a profit for the first time. Pakistan reneging on a touring contract would threaten this, even if the West Indies board sought compensation. ''We would possibly have had to compensate our own players for loss of earnings,'' said Camacho. Then there is the thorny question of the next World Cup, for which Pakistan, together with India and Sri Lanka, successfully but controversially outbid England at the ICC meeting in January. A Pakistan withdrawal here would certainly have created compli- cations and it would have been hard, for instance, to see how West Indies could have considered taking part under the cir- cumstances. In the end, spliffs or no spliffs, the show had to go on. SOURCE: The Guardian DATE: 16 April 1993 SPO PAGE: 20 Cricket: Aqib retires hurt at the end of a very rum do MIKE SELVEY Mike Selvey, in Port of Spain, watches the gloves come off as a heavyweight series gets under way WELL, it was Wasim Akram who said it. Never in his experience had there been such an unfortunate build-up to a Test series. Things hardly improved yesterday for Wasim when he learned that his fellow bowler Aqib Javed - another of the four Pakistanis last week arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs - was return- ing home with a back injury. But now, with the Pakistan camp having wrung every last ounce from the events in Grenada - and the Pakistan captain has gone so far as to admit that a bottle of rum, if not yo ho ho, had played its part - the battle begins in earnest. From 10.05am today, when Steve Bucknor and Dickie Bird - the first independent umpire to stand in the Caribbean - stroll to the middle and place the bails on the stumps, grass will be no more than the stuff the Queen's Park Oval groundsman was removing in very small quantities from his Test pitch yesterday. The only joints of consequence will be those Pakistani ones creaking after a week of virtual inactivity. Normal Test match service will be resumed. Please. It will not be, as Bird said yesterday, a place for the faint- hearted. This three-match series - beautifully encapsulated within a three-week period with no extraneous distractions - is being billed as the heavyweight championship of the cricket world. Pakistan, the World Cup holders, against the most consistently deadly Test-match force perhaps in the history of the game. The status afforded the series is not without foundation. Thirteen years ago West Indies capitulated acrimoniously to New Zealand, an experience that hurt so much that they have not done so to anyone since. And it is two decades since they were last beaten in a series in the Caribbean, well before four fast bowlers be- came the norm. Against that, Pakistan's overall Test record in recent times has not been unenviable: one series lost, to Australia three years ago, in the past 16. The last three series between the two sides have resulted in 11 draws and on paper the immovable force may be meeting the irresistible object. Quite what damage has been done to Pakistan's morale by the un- satisfactory build-up remains to be seen, but the 24-hour delay granted by the West Indies Cricket Board on Wednesday can only be to their advantage, given their lack of competitive cricket. There is a feeling in West Indian circles, though, that the si- tuation has been milked to the nth degree by the opposition, and yesterday Richie Richardson, the West Indies captain and not a man to do anyone down, was dismissive of the whole business. ''The game has got to go on,'' he said. ''Nothing should stop that unless it's physically impossible to play. I know we have had terrible problems in the past, when at various times Gus Lo- gie lost his mother, Jeff Dujon his wife and Gordon Greenidge his young daughter, but still the games started. Now I don't know how the Pakistan team have been feeling but I don't think what hap- pened should have been sufficient to delay a Test even for 24 hours.'' Richardson, of course, having been in the side since he was a precocious 21-year-old in 1983, is both proud of and keen to preserve his record of never having been on the losing side in a series. He has been captain for a year now, in which time he brought his side back from the dead to beat South Africa in Bar- bados last April and then led them from the very brink of defeat against Australia to a remarkable one-run victory in Adelaide in a remarkable series last winter. In the vanguard of the success in Australia, of course, was Curtly Ambrose, who kept the series alive for so long and then simply blew Australia away in Perth with an astonishing spell of seven wickets for a solitary run in 32 balls. It gave notice that whereas England were subjected to slow sorcery in India, West In- dies, under a vibrant new conductor, are still playing the same tune and it is one that Pakistan have followed. For the most in- triguing battle of all will be that for fast-bowling supremacy. By virtue of his deeds in the past few years, Ambrose can lay claim to being the most potent fast-bowling force in the world, and if the back-up cannot quite match Holding, say, or Andy Roberts, now cutting an avuncular figure as a selector, then Ian Bishop is no slouch and Walsh has huge reserves of willpower. Against that there is Wasim and Waqar, a pair as inextricably linked now as any great fast-bowling pairing. Richardson's firm belief is that on what he hopes are true sur- faces in Trinidad, and then Barbados and Antigua, his batsmen are better qualified to cope with Pakistan's bowlers than the visi- tors are to take on his own artillery. The presence of Bird and Bucknor should ensure an air of calm in a potentially volatile environment. Bird is already the most ex- perienced of all Test umpires and will celebrate his 60th birth- day in furrowed concentration on Monday. There are no worries there. Nor should there be with Bucknor, who exudes authority. As well as being an exceptional umpire, the Jamaican is a soccer referee who has officiated in an interna- tional between Colombia and Ecuador. After that, he will tell you, anything that Test cricket can throw up should be a sneeze. SOURCE: The Guardian DATE: 17 April 1993 SPO PAGE: 17 Cricket: Defiant West Indies fight fire with fire MIKE SELVEY IN PORT OF SPAIN Cricket: West Indies v Pakistan: first Test, first day WHAT a difference, as the song goes, a day makes. The match at Queens Park Oval had been scheduled to begin on Thursday, but be- cause of the dispirited state of the Pakistan team the West In- dies Cricket Board agreed to postpone it until yesterday and 80 minutes into the first session the home side, unfazed by pace or spin, had not lost a wicket. The Trinidad crowd buzzed its approval, but little more than an hour into the afternoon they were in a state of shock and West Indies were questioning the wisdom of their benevolence. For after Richie Richardson had won the toss, Pakistan had taken a grip like steel on the match. In the space of 20 overs they sent West Indies from 63 for no wicket to 127 all out, their lowest against Pakistan in the Caribbean. With only Desmond Haynes (31), Phil Simmons (27) and Anderson Cummins (14 not out) reaching double figures. Three of the wick- ets went in a nine-ball burst from Waqar Younis at a cost of eight runs. It was an irrepressible effort, as was that of the lively young seamer Ata-ur-Rehman, who removed both West Indies openers and finished with three for 28. West Indies' capacity to come back from the brink is well known and by the close they had redressed the balance somewhat, remov- ing Rameez Raja, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Basit Ali, for a duck on his Test debut, Aamir Sohail, who made 55, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, and Moin Khan as Pakistan stumbled to 113 for seven at the close of play. Ian Bishop and Curtly Ambrose had taken three wickets each: they have counterpunched with a vengeance. As has happened so often, it was the old ball with which the Pakistan pacemen were able to wreak havoc after Haynes and Sim- mons had compiled their first-wicket partnership in relatively untroubled fashion. Yet there should be no sugggestion of impropriety. Officiating in this match are Dickie Bird and Steve Bucknor, in the opinion of many as good a pairing as the world has to offer. They are not daft and nor, surely, after the ball-tampering hoo-ha of last summer and last week's Grenada incident, are Pakistan. What we saw was not a ball performing aerobatics but a highly skilled, pumped-up display of pace bowling. It was fast and to a full length to gain the maximum of any movement there was, backed up by quality close catching and aided by insipid batting. It was a recipe for Pakistan success and West Indian disaster, and set a very high benchmark for what is seen as the battle of the fast men. Round one, without a doubt, to Waqar, Wasim and Ata-ur-Rehman. While Haynes and the tall, ungainly Simmons were together, days rather than hours in the field seemed to be their destiny, and it was no suprise, after an opening burst from Wasim and Waqar, to see Mushtaq, dodgy back or not, taking up residence. But Test cricket these days, as West Indies constantly found on their Australian tour this winter, increasingly seems to throw up collapses that would make some South American currencies seem stable. This little beauty was sparked off by Simmons's inadequate spar- ring at a short, wide ball from Ata-ur-Rehman, with Moin Khan ac- cepting the chance gleefully. Richardson looked set, but in at- tempting to sweep Mushtaq he succeeded only in dragging a leg- spinner behind his legs and on to his leg stump. West Indies' lunch, at 83 for two, was less satisfactory than it might have been but certainly not precarious. The hour after lunch changed that, with Ata-ur-Rehman making the first incision by running the sixth ball of the session away from Haynes, and then leaving the way clear for Waqar to remove the middle order in spectacular fashion. It began with Brian Lara, the local hero playing in his first Trinidad Test, caught low at second slip. Then in his following over Carl Hooper and Junior Murray were removed lbw with consecu- tive full-length balls. Arthurton was dropped at slip off Waqar but ran himself out in- stead and Bishop was caught at first slip. Only after a merry slog from Cummins had produced a ninth-wicket stand of 25, the second largest of the innings, did Wasim decide to finish the job himself. He will need no reminding that he remains on a hat-trick for the start of the second innings. SOURCE: The Guardian DATE: 20 April 1993 SPO PAGE: 21 Pakistan make few excuses after a Test to suit the buffs MIKE SELVEY Mike Selvey in Port of Spain hears Mudassar accept defeat with grace and heap praise on the performance of Desmond Haynes IN ABOUT three weeks, Richie Richardson, captain of West Indies, will achieve an ambition when he joins Yorkshire and plays in the county championship. He will do very well. On Sunday evening, though, in the aftermath of his side's overwhelming victory against Pakistan in what by any standards was a freak Test match, he could see the irony of the situation. A county programme begins next week consisting exclusively, for the first time, of four-day matches, and Richardson is unsure if he has the stamina to go the distance. He is joking, of course, but it is a fact that since the Carib- bean machine got back on course with a draw in Sydney four months ago they have won three Tests which have lasted less than 28 out of a possible 45 sessions of play. There were 12 rain-interrupted sessions in Adelaide, seven in Perth and now less than nine in Port of Spain. Statistically, the match at the weekend had enough quirks to send cricket buffs into raptures. Desmond Haynes, for example, carried his bat for a record third time in a Test and batted longer than Pakistan managed in both their innings combined. Then there was the extraordinary breakdown of the game that saw 544 runs come from 38 of the 40 wickets to fall - only slightly more than 14 runs per wicket - and 295 from the remaining two in the middle of it all. Haynes's adhesiveness and determination to prove a point, to- gether with the flamboyance of Brian Lara and Richardson, did more to win the game than did the bowlers. Runs were like dia- monds, wickets mere paste. And there were a world-record 17 leg- befores. With the ball keeping low, batsmen on the back foot hitting across the line and bowlers seeking that mode of dismissal any- way, such a string could never be discounted. But long-suffering bowlers of the past would be forgiven for rubbing their eyes in disbelief at the sight of Dickie Bird raising his finger with such joyous abandon. In the aftermath of such a beating there would be every reason to expect many excuses from the losers but, refreshingly, few were forthcoming from Pakistan. Having played a lot of one-day cricket and only a solitary Test, in New Zealand, since leaving England last September, Mudassar Nazar, Pakistan's coach, felt they were disadvantaged when it came to the match fitness of his bowlers, particularly Waqar Younis. The fitness of the leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, another key bowler, is giving cause for concern. Following a scan on his troublesome back he had been given a clean bill of health for the series and for a season with Somerset, but he was in serious discomfort here and has been ruled out of the second Test begin- ning in Barbados on Friday. But Mudassar conceded that Pakistan had been outplayed and did not feel that the pitch, which consistently kept low, was the de- ciding factor. ''It was not up to Test standard,'' he said, ''but I cannot say we were disadvantaged except in the fourth innings, when it really kept low. But by then the damage had been done anyway.'' Praising Haynes, Mudassar said: ''For some reason the selectors and public appeared to want him out, and we could not agree more. We knew he would be a thorn in our flesh and did all we could to get him out of the side. We failed and he destroyed us.'' SOURCE: The Guardian DATE: 21 April 1993 SPO PAGE: 21 Rehman says sorry for kicking Richardson MIKE SELVEY IN PORT OF SPAIN Cricket RICHIE RICHARDSON, the West Indies captain, has received an of- ficial apology from the Pakistan fast bowler Ata-Ur-Rehman after an incident on the field during the first Test in Trinidad. The 18-year-old bowler, presumably upset at his lack of success in West Indies' second innings, was seen to launch a kick at Richardson as the batsman attempted a single early in his innings last Saturday. Richardson replied with a furious assault on the bowling. He went on to make 68. Richardson complained to the umpires Dickie Bird and Steve Buck- nor, who referred the matter to the match referee Raman Subba Row. Under the ICC Code of Conduct Rehman could have been fined or suspended. But having found a video of the incident incon- clusive, Subba Row is unlikely to take further action. His one positive move yesterday was to fine Pakistan 50 per cent of their match fees for a slow over-rate; they bowled 10 overs below the limit for the match. Both the captain Wasim Akram and the team manager Mudassar Nazar spoke to the bowler about his behaviour and pointed him in Richardson's direction. ''He seems a nice fellow,'' said Richardson yesterday after the apology, hard on the foot. I felt it for the rest of the day. You might expect that sort of thing at a football match but not cricket. It was a definite assault and I lost my cool a bit.'' Meanwhile Pakistan's woes, already substantial after the drugs charges in Grenada and the heavy defeat in the Test, increased when it was confirmed that Mushtaq Ahmed, the leg-spinner, is to travel to England to consult doctors about his injured back. He is unlikely to rejoin the tour. Last week a persistent back inju- ry also forced the fast bowler Aqib Javed to return to Pakistan. Mushtaq has experienced problems for some time, although he was told after a recent scan that he should be fit enough to complete this series and the coming season with Somerset. However, he was unable to finish the Trinidad Test and had al- ready been ruled out of Friday's second Test in Barbados. Somer- set, who expect him to join them when the tour finishes, will keep a close watch on the situation. Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)