Date-stamped : 19 May95 - 10:26 Tour Match: Worcestershire v West Indies Worcester, 16, 17, 18 May 1995 ====> Day 1, 16 May 95 West Indies left with little time to settle in By Christopher Martin-Jenkins First day of three: West Indies 114-2 v Worcestershire THE trouble with starting a tour of England late, as the West In- dies have this time in the wake of their series with Australia, is that the weather may not allow adequate acclimatisation before the start of the major matches. The Texaco games start a week today, but under two hours and a mere 24 overs were possible at Worcester yesterday before steady drizzle closed in on an already rather bleak scene. Young players like Sherwin Campbell and Stuart Williams are in danger of missing the chance to learn, which tours of England alone offer in profusion these days. Both were dismissed after getting a start on a misty, moist morn- ing which made batting against a hard new ball a hazardous busi- ness, especially on a pitch which, like the one nearby condemned as poor earlier this week, was uneven in bounce. The West Indies are without Courtney Walsh, who has a shoulder niggle - he is expected to play later in the week against Somer- set -and Curtly Ambrose, whose mood is broody. Worcestershire, minus Graeme Hick with his broken finger and Tom Moody with a shoulder injury, have taken the chance to blood Paul Thomas, 23, a Birmingham-born fast bowler of West Indian origins who has moved up from Minor Counties cricket with Shropshire and who took a wicket in his first over of first-class cricket. He had to wait until Neal Radford and Phil Newport had had their go with the new ball. As usual, Newport swung it, albeit not at quite a full enough length, and he gave Williams a difficult time. Campbell, however, creamed three of Radford`s first fours balls though extra cover, which at least showed that the pitch had some pace. Williams, ironically, had just played two cracking shots of his own, a pull and a back-foot force, when he edged Thomas`s fifth ball low to the gully where Philip Weston caught him low to his right. Thomas, with a full sweep of a loose arm, has pace, but Brian Lara, who escaped after playing one speculative drive just over mid-off, soon taught him that only a perfect length will do. He had hit five fours when the rain arrived. He had also lost the company of Campbell, who was first bowled by a no ball from the waspish Stuart Lampitt, then by a legitimate one. It was a good one which left him off the seam, but he would probably have scotched it if he had gone forward rather than back. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 2, 17 May 95 No play due to rain. Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 3, 18 May 95 Thomas up to speed in show of real promise - C.Martin-Jenkins West Indians (241-9 dec & forfeiture) drew with Worcs (forfeiture & 86-5) DESPITE two forfeited innings, rain, sweeping in suddenly from the Malvern hills, deprived the West Indies of victory in the first of their Tetley Challenge matches against the counties. Without Graeme Hick and Tom Moody and with only the perennial Tim Curtis standing firm, Worcestershire were halfway to defeat and less than halfway to a 48-over target of 242. The touring team got some cheer, Ian Bishop, Ottis Gibson and Winston Benjamin all bowling lively spells on a sparky pitch and Rajindra Dhanraj picking up his first first-class wickets in Eng- land. Brian Lara also batted joyously and Paul Thomas, 23, made his first appearance for Worcestershire an occasion of signifi- cance with five for 70. Lara`s 78 adorned the first 15 overs of a mercifully bright morn- ing. He got to work with four perfectly timed fours in one over from Phil Newport, two driven gloriously straight, one flicked through square-leg, the other through midwicket. He made every one into a half-volley, but, of course, the moment that Newport adjusted, Lara was right back on to his stumps, pul- ling with panache and a raised right leg. Lara had hit 13 fours off only 80 balls when trying something al- together too ambitious, even for him: drawing away to leg to try to dab Richard Illingworth past slip he was stumped, accidental- ly, as the ball bounced back off Steven Rhodes`s gloves on to the leg bail. Thomas possesses two priceless attributes, natural pace and in- telligence Illingworth continued to bowl slowly and with perfect control of length, picking up two more wickets off batsmen happy to take the aerial route. He beat Richie Richardson with both flight and turn to give Rhodes a quick and much more legitimate stumping. The hero of the moment, however, was Thomas, who followed up his lively but nervous start on Tuesday with a spell of real promise. He possesses two priceless attributes, natural pace and intelli- gence: time will tell if he also has the stamina and strength to bowl with such zest through the demands of an English season. Born in Birmingham to Jamaican immigrants he played no organised cricket at school in Broadway, which did not stop a member of the staff from recommending him to Warwickshire`s youth coaches. To emphasise how much cricket is actually available to boys of talent, Thomas played so much cricket at the age of 14 and 15 that he became disenchanted and gave up the game. This may well help him now because it is in the adolescent years that fast bowlers often develop back problems. Returning to cricket only three years ago he mixed matches for Shropshire with unsuccessful trials for Warwickshire but Damian D`Oliveira recom- mended him to his own county and David Houghton, now the county coach, was sufficiently impressed by his speed in the early Second XI games this season to promote him for this match. He bowled fast and straight and though most of his wick- ets came from miscued drives, he also got some good ones past the outside edge. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu)