Date-stamped : 03 Nov93 - 05:55 CRICKET: THIRD TEST, WI v PAK Match Reports WI won the toss. Day 1 WI v Pak T3D1 - BBC match report A dazzling 166 not out by Carl Hooper saved West Indies from embarrasment on the opening day. The West Indies, who hold a winning 2-0 lead in the series, were 159-4 at one stage before Hooper bounced back to form to steer his side to a respectable 344-9 by the close. The right-hander, who had totalled just 24 runs in his three previous innings in the series, came in at number six and played a wide range of shots on the way to his century. Waqar Younis took 5-86 for his 12th five-wicket haul in only 23 Tests. Day 2 Pakistan recovered from 4-2 to reach 85-3 at the end of the second day but still have a mountain to climb to avoid a series whitewash. Carl Hooper reached 178 not out and Courtney Walsh matched his highest Test score of 30 in a record West Indies tenth wicket stand of 106. The West Indies were eventually all out for 438 and soon had the tourists in trouble with openers Rameez Raja and Shakeel Ahmed back in the pavilion without scoring. Asif Mujtaba reached 50 before rain forced a premature end to the day. Day 3 Basit Ali hit an unbeaten 47 to lead a Pakistan fightback against West Indies in the final Test. Basit lifted the tourists from their perilous overnight position of 85-3 to 155-4 at lunch on the third day in Antigua. West Indies, seeking a clean sweep in the series, had just one success when Desmond Haynes caught Asif Mujtaba off Carl Hooper for 59. Pakistan, chasing West Indies' first innings total of 438, still need another 84 runs to avoid their second successive follow-on. Day 4 Desmond Haynes hit an unbeaten 64 to check a West Indies slump triggered by Pakistan paceman Waqar Younis on a rain-hit fourth day. Younis produced an 11-over spell of 4-23 either side of tea to reduce the home side from 36-0 to 68-4. But Haynes dug in with the help of Carl Hooper to see West Indies to 153-4 by the close - a lead of 285. English umpire Dickie Bird had to leave the field due to a bruised back, cuased when he was hit by a throw from a fielder on Tuesday. Day 5 West Indies finished the series with a 2-0 victory when heavy rain washed out the final day's play against Pakistan. A draw had already looked the most likely result with West Indies on 153-4 in their second innings and an overall lead of 265. West Indies veteran opener Desmond Haynes was named Player of the Series after hitting two tons among his 402 runs in the three Tests. Teammate Carl Hooper, who hit an unbeaten 178, was named man of the match for the third Test. W Indies 1st inns: 438 Hooper 178no Pakistan 1st inns: 326 Haq 123 Contributed by goo-chie (jdw5@ukc.ac.uk) The Guardian 3 May 1993 - Hooper sets up a record - MIKE SELVEY IN ANTIGUA - W Indies v Pakistan: third Test, second day LIKE an insecurely fastened dinghy, Pakistan's ambitions of com- peting in the third and final Test - still strong enough, it seemed, after a vibrant first day and on a second day shorn of more than two hours by intermittent rain - slipped their moorings and drifted out into the stream, probably beyond recovery. In the morning Pakistan's bowlers suffered final humiliation as Carl Hooper and Courtney Walsh took their last-wicket partnership beyond the lunch interval and into the record books. Hooper was finally left beached on 178 - easily the best of his Test career and ranking alongside Viv Richards's effort against Australia in 1984 as the highest in the 12-year history of Test cricket at The Recreation Ground. With his partner's conscientious shepherding, Walsh also sur- passed himself, making 30 of a partnership worth 106, a Test record for West Indies. So a West Indies score that at one point had stood at a modest 312 for eight reached the seemingly impos- sible total of 438. The stuffing was knocked out of Pakistan, who had striven so hard on the first day to regain lost pride. Before the third over of their innings was through, both the openers, Rameez Raja and Shakeel Ahmed, on his debut, were out without scoring. Although Asif Mujtaba and Javed Miandad carried the fight to the West Indies attack, pulling things round with a third-wicket stand of 81 that was punctuated by an hour's break for rain shortly after tea, Javed, slightly unluckily, was leg-before to Winston Benjamin for 31. Basit Ali, conversely, was fortunate to survive another first- ball appeal, at which point the rain swept in once more, leaving Pakistan at 85 for three with Mujtaba unbeaten on 50 at the close. Today is a rest day. Hooper's innings, that came in his 40th Test match, surely represents the turning of the tide for a player in whom faith, undue and blind in the opinion of many, has been placed since his debut in Bombay half a dozen years ago. Supporters in Kent, who witnessed five centuries from him for the county last season, would testify to the classical nature of his batting, but just three Test hundreds hitherto from such a naturally talented player smacked of under-achievement, indiscip- line perhaps, and maybe even a lack of heart and ambition. For more than a year before this match he had struggled, not once passing the half-century in 10 innings. His place in the side was cemented not by runs but by dapper off spin that winkled out the odd stubborn batsman while maintaining the over rate, and by catching of the highest quality. But, like fortyniners prospecting the goldfields, West Indies selectors persisted, knowing that one day they might uncover a rich nugget: here they found it. Throughout his stay of almost five hours the languid quality and deceptive power of Hooper's strokeplay had been uncanny and his timing that of a Swiss chronometer. He was up on his toes with a ramrod straight bat forcing Waqar in front of square - the most difficult of strokes; he swivelled to hoist Wasim's bouncer high over square leg and into the crowd. Most memorable of all, perhaps, came the moment just before his century when his gun-shot straight drive blurred back past Waqar, who was still bent in the effort of his follow-through. The stroke was greeted by a momentary silence of disbelief and then a heart-thumping shockwave of sound came from the apprecia- tive crowd. In all Hooper struck 19 fours and four sixes and lost a good many more because of the scattered field placings Pakistan were obliged to make. He owed much to the steadfastness of Walsh, who blocked when it was necessary, unleashed a couple of pedigree cover drives him- self and, for good measure, hoisted the persevering Nadeem Khan over long on and into Factory Road well beyond. The Guardian 7 May 1993 - Watery grave foils Haynes - Mike Selvey in Antigua - West Indies v Pakistan: third Test, fifth day ANY cricket match sufficiently surreal to feature a Test umpire dropping his trousers in mid pitch and drag artists as lunchtime entertainment deserves a bizarre conclusion and the third and fi- nal Test match got just that. Wednesday night, like Tuesday, brought its copious quantities of rain so that by yesterday morning the Recreation Ground once more was waterlogged. By the scheduled start of play ground staff were mopping without enthusiasm, covers were flapping dry in the stiff breeze and one of the umpires, Steve Bucknor, was in the press box chatting amiably. No, he said, play would not be possible before lunch but, if there was no more rain, they would have a look after, even if prospects were not too bright. So, when Raman Subba Row, the match referee, also arrived in the press box to announce that the match had been officially abandoned, Bucknor's eyes stood out on stalks. The decision should be taken by both umpires but Bucknor, so it was said, could not be found and the decision, after consultation with everyone else bar the tea ladies, was made unilaterally by Dickie Bird. Only Desmond Haynes, who had a third century in successive Tests firmly in his sights, could have had any axe to grind. Despite the confusion the decision to put a dying match out of its misery as painlessly as possible was correct. It also brought to an end a series that was substantially more mouthwatering at conception than birth. Billed as the sort of contest that should take place in Las Vegas, with heavyweight fast bowlers slugging it out, it proved to be a two-round rope- a-doper. There were memorable individual performances - Haynes's rejuve- nation, of course, but also Hooper's and Inzamam's centuries here, Waqar's parting shots, Ambrose as formidable as ever and the promise of Basit Ali. But when all is said and done, West Indies, as Richie Richardson remarked with honesty rather than arrogance, outplayed Pakistan in all departments. The first Test in Trinidad brought an innings victory in less than three days while Bridgetown had produced a 10-wicket win by the fourth evening, all of which rendered the third game meaning- less. But, had it gone the distance without interruption, West Indies would probably have won that as well. They are formidable still and will be no less so next winter when England visit. Pakistan, with injuries and other problems were below par but, as Richardson said, it is hard to be at your best when you are getting beaten. ''And it's hard to come to the West Indies in particular and beat us. We know our conditions best.'' He also placed great emphasis on the spirit that has been gen- erated in the side since he took over as captain. The scowl that hung on the countenance of Caribbean cricket during Richards' au- tocratic reign has been replaced by democracy and camaraderie. West Indies play hard but together. ''We have unity and affection,'' said Richardson. ''We come from different islands, we have different beliefs and yet I can't re- call a single moment when one individual was angry with the rest. We need each other.'' Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)