Date-stamped : 26 Jan97 - 14:52
Day 1 Report- Trinidad Express

WILLIAMS STEADIES T&T

MBy GARTH WATTLEY RICHARD SMITH and his fellow selectors took a
big gamble against the Windward Islands at Queen's Park Oval
yesterday. Already without Brian Lara and Phil Simmons, the new
Trinidad and Tobago skipper went into the opening Red Stripe Cup
battle putting faith in just four specialist batsmen. But by the
end of an intriguing, hard-fought opening day, that faith seemed
justified, thanks to a vital hand from an old pro.

Thirty-three-year-old David Williams has been in many scraps for
the national team. And yesterday, he chose his 50th Shell
Shield/Red Stripe appearance for his country to play one of his
more crucial innings - 53, as T&T finished the first day on 243
for 8.

The half-century is only the fourth of Williams' regional
career. But it is a knock that his young skipper will value
greatly. For in the end, it could just prove to be the
difference between a satisfying victory and sobering defeat for
the home team.

It was a day of luck and chances really. When he won the toss
and chose to bat, Smith had put faith in a new pitch that had,
on recent evidence, favoured batsmen. And he packed his side
with extra bowling, three specialist spinners in addition to
allrounder Mahadeo Bodoe and the pacers, Eugene Antoine and the
debutant, Mervyn Dillon. All this was at the expense of Keno
Mason in the middle order. It left the home team with a
decidedly brittle-looking batting line-up.

And the creature that produced shooters before lunch and offered
the spinners encouraging turn from the start would not have
eased the T&T skipper's mind.

But this was a case where fortune favoured the brave. Benefiting
from at least five dropped chances by the Windwards, Smith's
charges determinedly ground out their runs.

Williams' 53 at number six and the equally vital 46 from another
experienced hand, number five Bodoe, were the cornerstones
around which the home team's total has been built so far.

But the hard work had been started much earlier by the younger
turks. Opener Andre Lawrence (28) and Lincoln Roberts (39) put
together 68 for the second wicket. They had come together after
brilliant fielding by Rawl Lewis got Anil Balliram.

The score was just 12 when the opener drove uppishly at Caspar
Davis and Lewis in the gully flung himself full stretch to his
right to haul in the catch. It was a muted, sparsely-populated
Oval that saw Roberts come out. But the next 86 minutes they
watched in hope as he and Lawrence fought for their team.

Roberts, dropped in the covers when 17, was troubled outside
offstump and was never at his most fluent. But he still managed
six boundaries before his luck ran out, Windwards skipper
Dawnley Joseph catching him at second slip.

Lawrence had been playing more securely. But he too had his
slices of good fortune. He was dropped off successive balls from
pacer Dennison Thomas.

The now optimistic opener received a rude shock two balls before
lunch. He struck a very low, firm drive onto the boot of the
flinching silly mid-off fielder only for the ball to rebound for
wicketkeeper Uzzah Pope to take a smart diving catch.

Smith would have gone in at lunch ruing that nasty twist of
fate, the score 93 for 3. But he and Bodoe stuck to the plan
even when rain took 50 minutes out of the second session.

Having stressed the need for batsmen to build partnerships, the
careful captain and a positive-looking Bodoe soldiered on. Smith
never approached the panache of his North/South 100, the
conditions and the circumstances demanding a different approach.
But Bodoe was freer, picking up his runs mostly square of the
wicket.

Their work brought them an even 50-run partnership. Then came
more of the unexpected.

Morgan, in a new spell from the northern end, struck Smith plumb
in front with one that barely left the ground. The skipper had
no chance, having battled to 29 in an hour-and-a-half. "Petit
Willie" now bustled to the wicket, the total 143 for 4. Once
more much was being asked of him. But he was equal to the big
task. He and his regular partner in crisis Bodoe added another
44 while Joseph constantly switched his bowlers as he strove for
the breakthrough. Finally, he hit the jackpot.

The score was 187 when in the first over of a new spell, Lewis
got Bodoe to cut carelessly at an innocuous delivery wide of
off-stump and Pope did the rest.

The loss of his partner did not deter the little
wicketkeeper/batsman. Always prepared to attack the bowlers, he
played several of his trademark crisp pulls and drives including
a sparkling shot through the covers off Davis.

Put down at silly mid-off when only seven, Williams had ridden
his luck better than his mates. Still, he could feel hard done
by that his desperate attempt to keep out a Morgan yorker
failed, the ball going from the bat on to the stumps.

He walked away to warm applause, 50 runs in his 50th game. He
left Dinanath Ramnarine behind, with whom he had added a crucial
42. Ramnarine (18) was still there at the end with Rajindra
Dhanraj. There is only Antoine to come but Smith will not mind
the odds, once the luck continues to go with the brave.


Source :: The Trinidad Express (http://www.trinidad.net/express/)

Day 2: Trinidad Express

DHANRAJ, DILLON, DINANATH DO IN WINDWARDS

Three D-day at QP Oval

By GARTH WATTLEY

TRIMIDAD AND TOBAGO skipper Richard Smith did not have to gamble
yesterday. Where he had taken the odd chance on Day One of the
Red Stripe Cup encounter against the Windward Islands, the T&T
skipper had only to rely on the "three Ds" formula-Dhanraj x
Dinanath x Dillon-to reap success. And what success!

At the end of a dramatic day's play at the Queen's Park Oval,
Smith's side had earned for themselves first innings points, a
lead of 162 and a chance to score a morale-boosting outright
win.

The thought of victory, the very scent of it, will be with
captain Smith when he awakes this morning. And following closely
on that realisation will be the recollection of the deeds of his
men, particularly the three Ds .

But it is not only the nine wickets that the two leg-spinners
and the debutant fast bowler gathered that Smith will recall. He
will also remember with gratitude the 59 runs Dinanath Ramnarine
(43) and Rajindra Dhanraj (24 not out) helped add to the T&T
score in 70 minutes to make the final tally 302.

However, Windwards skipper Dawnley Joseph will wince at the
memory of yesterday. First he watched as his bowlers failed to
limit the progress of the T&T tailenders.

And after he and fellow opener Joey Pierre (24) had crashed a
few early boundaries off Dillon (14-4-37-2) and Eugene Antoine
(7-1-31-1), the skipper saw first-hand the difficulty his
batsmen had countering the leggies of "Danny," (12-8-18-4) and
"Dinnas" (14.5-6-21-3) and the controlled off-spin of Mukesh
Persad (16-5-26-0).

And this morning as Joseph faces the painful possibility of
being asked to follow-on, he will recall without joy the way the
T&T tail cramped his style.

Displaying the same spirited determination that their team mates
had shown the previous day, Ramnarine and Dhanraj gave their
team a decided advantage. Resuming with the score on 243 for 8,
the pair added to an already useful total, taking their ninth
wicket partnership to 45, the impressive Ramnarine taking the
lead.

Playing with polish, he took advantage of ill-directed stuff by
the Windwards pacers, Caspar Davis especially. He struck three
boundaries before he departed. Just eight away from a deserved
first Red Stripe 50, he cut ambitiously at left-arm spinner Roy
Marshall and was caught behind.

The score was then 282. Eighteen more were still needed for the
300. And Dhanraj and Antoine, as they did more than once last
season, made nuisances of themselves, eking out another 20. On a
wicket of low bounce that was offering turn to those capable of
extracting it, the Windwards had it to do. But the hard-hitting
Joseph and robust Pierre approached the task with gusto during
the 30 minutes batting before lunch.

Dillon's first over in big time cricket was an experience.
Twelve runs poured off the bat and the overzealous young pacer
overstepped three times. Antoine's first over was no better. He
went for 13, Joseph crashing two boundaries and Pierre one. But
the fete would be brief.

Lunch was taken at 37 without loss. After the interval-30
minutes having been lost to rain-spin put a stop to the feast.
Smith, seeking to stifle the openers quickly, had given
Ramnarine and Persad an over each before lunch. And it was
Dinnas who did the initial damage.

With only two runs added, Pierre prodded forward to a leg
spinner and Anil Balliram gleefully accepted the catch at silly
mid-off. St Lucian Preston Thomas, one of two Windwards
debutants in the game, came in. But he was immediately tied
down.

He was still there when Smith made another of his numerous
bowling changes. Always looking to make things happen, the
captain constantly switched his bowlers around, using them in
varying combinations. And it was the Dillon/Dhanraj formula that
produced the next two wickets.

The score had reached 69 when Dillon opened his Red Stripe
account. Wisely opting for control and length and line, he
trapped Joseph (25) lbw, the skipper paying the price for not
getting well forward. The other half of the combo struck in the
next over when, with the score still on 69, David Williams
claimed his 133rd regional dismissal, neatly stumping Thomas.

The visitors did not lose another wicket before tea, going in at
85 for three. The Windwards were not yet in dire straits. But
they would soon be. Eventually worn down by the home team's
accuracy, the visitors collapsed, their uncertain, suspicious
prods proving inadequate against the troublesome spin of Danny
and Dinnas. Seven wickets crashed for 55 runs.

Dhanraj, bowling with increasing control, got rid of the
dangerous Roy Marshall (23, another Williams victim) and the
stubborn Watt (30) with his stock ball, while his sole googly
outfoxed Dennison Thomas who went lbw. Dillon got the usually
tough wicketkeeper Uzzah Pope to edge a catch to Williams.

The mop-up job was left to Ramnarine. Brought back on by Smith,
he got immediate results. With his third ball, he had Davis
caught and bowled. And off the fifth, Morgan holed out to Dillon
at long-off. At 140, the innings-and the day-was over. The three
Ds had done the job. And should Smith and his men get it right
again today, the Savannah will not be the only stage for
pandemonium.

ource :: The Trinidad Express (http://www.trinidad.net/express/)

Day 3 Report- The Trinidad Express

Monday, January 27, 1997

WINWARDS DELAY FETE

By GARTH WATTLEY IF YESTERDAY was to be a victory party for
Trinidad and Tobago's cricketers, then the Windward Islands
spoiled the fete. But the visitors' fighting display has
probably only delayed the T&T celebrations at the Queen's Park
Oval today.

The first round Red Stripe Cup encounter between the two sides
enters its final day this morning with the home team needing a
mere 77 runs to secure an outright win.

On paper, it looks a relatively straightforward task for Richard
Smith's side. But with yesterday's play as the latest example,
not even this small score or a home team victory can be taken
for granted. Funny game, this cricket.

When Windwards' opener Joey Pierre left the wicket at 14 for 3
yesterday morning, an innings victory for T&T was on the cards.
Conch shell man Keller and the pan jumbies in the Gerry Gomez
Media Centre were already making plans to take in the Panorama
preliminaries at the Queen's Park Savannah.

But by mid-afternoon, the rain-and Windwards batsmen John
Sylvester and Balty Watt-had forced those plans to be put on
hold. And it was not long before, the diehards around the ground
were checking with concern if not with alarm the credit instead
of the debit side of the Windwards account.

Sylvester (66) , the diminutive, solid Grenadian middle-order
bat, and the taller, slender Dominican debutant Watt (57) put on
a hope-inspiring 114-run fourth wicket partnership for their
team, frustrating Smith and his bowlers. But not even this
admirable effort was sufficient to pull the Windwards completely
out the big hole into which they had plummeted at the start.

Mukesh Persad (4 for 55), with his flighty off-spinners, led the
T&T fightback and, in the end, the visitors, asked to follow on,
made 238. But it was the havoc wrought by T&T pacers Mervyn
Dillon and Eugene Antoine that really put the Windwards in the
bamboo.

Dillon would be used sparingly throughout the day, delivering
just two more overs in the remaining sessions after completing
his first spell of eight. It was a productive first spell.

Once more bowling with impressive control and good accuracy, he
gave the batsmen a testing time, grabbing the first two wickets.
Before skipper Dawnley Joseph could properly launch into the
deficit of 162, he was back in the pavilion, the victim of
Dillon's excellent diving/tumbling caught and bowled effort as
he just failed to keep down a defensive prod. Joseph had made 2,
his team's total at that stage. The tally was only twelve when
Dillon struck again.

Preston Thomas ended an unhappy debut when, after having spent
25 minutes on zero, he edged one that left him slightly and
wicketkeeper David Williams took the lowest of catches. The
dismissal was to be the first of four he would have in the
innings to go with three in the first.

Twelve for two. And before Joseph could blink, his side was in
further disarray. Pierre, having been subdued by the disciplined
bowling, had his off-stump plucked out of the ground by Antoine.
Pampalam!

"We beating dem by ah innings and two chords!" Keller told
anyone who would listen.

The party, it seemed, was starting, with the fete set to finish
in the Savannah. But Sylvester and Watt obviously would remind
all present of the glorious uncertainties of the great game.

Deciding immediately that salvation would come through positive
play, they took the attack to the bowlers where possible and
snatched singles where they could.

Sylvester, the more accomplished strokeplayer led the way,
forcing Smith to withdraw the tiring Dillon and Antoine. But the
leg-spinning Ds, Rajindra Dhanraj and Dinanath Ramnarine could
not stop the flow. Lunch was taken at 74 for 3, the duo having
already added 60.

"Dem cyar bat!" exclaimed one man to his young son after
glancing at the scoreboard. The pair had arrived during lunch.
The father would have had to eat his words after the interval
had he stuck around after the rain made its second intervention.

Sylvester and Watt continued to score freely off Ramnarine and
Persad. And Smith was eventually prompted to call on Andre
Lawrence's medium pacers to stem the flow. He operated with
Dhanraj and the leg- spinner made the vital breakthrough when
Sylvester under-edged a cut and was taken by Williams. His stay
of nearly two hours was over. But Watt stuck around long enough
to reach his first regional 50 in his debut match. His
concentration had long been wavering, however. And at 57, Persad
claimed him.

Having gone wicketless in the first innings, the unlucky
off-spinner would have desperately wanted to impress in his
first match in two seasons. And on for a new spell, he had Watt
caught by Anil Balliram at forward short-leg attempting an
ill-advised paddle/sweep -155 for 5. The Windwards lower order
fought on. Roy Marshall made 34 and Rawl Lewis an intelligent
unbeaten 35 as the visitors eked out enough runs to take a lead.

Skipper Smith himself ended things when he caught Mc Neil Morgan
at slip off Dhanraj.

Many plans had been changed by that time, including those for a
late afternoon T&T run-chase.

Smith and his boys will do their chasing this morning, anxious
to make victory certain.

Source :: The Trinidad Express (http://www.trinidad.net/express/)

Day 4 Report- Trinidad Express

T&T TOIL FOR 16

By GARTH WATTLEY

NOTHING good, they say, comes easy.

For three days, skipper Richard Smith and the Trinidad and
Tobago cricket side had put their best feet forward. And on the
final day, the end of the journey along the Red Stripe road to
victory seemed short-just 77 steps away.

But yesterday afternoon when the Windwards' Dennison Thomas ran
in to bowl at number eight Dinanath Ramnarine at 76 for 6, the
journey was proving to be longer and more tortuous than any but
the most imaginative spectator could have envisioned.

Ramnarine, however, eased the locals' jangling nerves with a
boundary to third man to make it 80 for six and seal the win by
four wickets. Victory, to say the least, had not come without
jitters. But in the end Ramnarine and his mates finally got to
play one for "Smithy." Smith, captaining his country for the
first time, had seen his team pass the first test of the 1997
Red Stripe season. Just. And when at the end of a topsy-turvy
final day he faced the media, that satisfaction was evident.

"We came into this game looking for eight points and if we got
sixteen would take it," Smith explained.

"The guys played near perfect cricket for three days. We had a
minor hiccup on the last day. But we have sixteen points going
to Barbados. We could not have asked for a better start," the
captain said. The "minor hiccup" saw the homesters lose four
wickets for 71 before lunch and two in the first over after the
interval on a pitch of progressively lower bounce. But the
skipper is not, on the face of it, too perturbed by yesterday's
dramatic finale.

"It does not concern me," Smith said. "What we have to do is
analyse it and see where we went wrong, if we were too casual or
laid back in our approach because it was 77 runs. I don't think
it is a reflection of the batting." And as if to stress the
point he also noted that in the first innings, "we earned our
300 runs."

Despite his confidence however, Smith would have been relieved
when the 76 runs needed for the win, were finally on the board.
By that time, doing the jitterbug had taken on an entirely new
meaning. Much of the late innings uncertainty had been generated
by Thomas and opening bowlers Caspar Davis and Mc Neil Morgan.

Determined to give the homesters a hard time and getting the
ball to move both ways, they gave the T&T top order an
uncomfortable time. Still, with just 27 to get at 50 for 2,
nothing seemed amiss. By that time Andre Lawrence had been
caught behind off Davis for 6 after failing to get behind a ball
just outside off-stump. Lincoln Roberts (19) had been the first
of Thomas' three wickets, also caught by the keeper. Fifty for
2.

But before anyone could say "victory," two more men had gone for
seven runs. Smith was caught at forward short leg off Thomas.
Fifty-three for three. And four runs later, Mahadeo Bodoe was on
the wrong end of what seemed a tough lbw decision in favour of
the Grenadian medium pacer. All the while, stubborn Anil
Balliram had stuck around at the other end. He went to lunch
with first innings hero David Williams at 71 for four, just six
runs away from victory. The extra session really should not have
been necessary.

And Balliram would have watched with concern when left-arm
spinner Roy Marshall caused more trouble, Williams (11) being
trapped lbw on the backfoot, a victim of the low bounce while
Mukesh Persad was a bat/pad casualty.

Thoughts of a seemingly impossible "other" result were now
entering a few heads. But Ramnarine eased the tension with his
boundary. Peace at last.

It was now time to reflect on the good things. And the captain
was high in praise of his team's determined, spirited display in
the match. The success however, would have been impossible
without the contribution of 33-year-old Williams. He made his
50th regional game a memorable one, being named the Man of the
Match for his first innings 53, five catches and two stumpings.

The effort was not lost on the captain. "He's a team man," Smith
said. He's probably the best wicketkeeper in the West Indies. He
goes out there every year and gives 110% for his country," the
captain noted. He added. "I don't think a country can ask more
of a player." True. And save for the last day blemish, the same
can be said for team T&T.


Source :: The Trinidad Express (http://www.trinidad.net/express/)

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