The tour itself was a most grueling one for our
boys down under having had to cope with the
difficult scheduling of matches that easily caused
numerous injuries on the aging bodies of our
depleted team members coupled with the adverse effects
of the late winter/early spring weather in Australia.
Having to play 7 highly competitive 45 overs matches
in 9 days was no easy feat for persons not accustomed
to the rigors of such. The original tournament schedule
was revised due to the incessant rain that greeted the
commencement of the World Cup and the organizers
saw it fit to schedule 3 @ 45 overs matches on the first
3 consecutive days followed by a solitary rest day, then
2 consecutive 45 overs matches again followed by a rest
day then another 2 consecutive 45 overs matches. One of
these matches was affected by rain causing it be reduced
to a 25 overs affair. At the meeting held by the organizers
of the tournament to discuss the revised schedule it was
proposed by one country to have the overs reduced to
40 overs matches but this proposal was voted down by a
slim majority.
From the inception, our full complement of 17 players
could not have been met when former Test player, Alvin
Kallicharran, broke his finger and had to pull out from
the tour at the last minute. This was further exacerbated
when our vice-captain and opening batsman Kris Ramdat
ruptured his ankle tendon and had to return the TT for
emergency surgery.
Off spinner Gerald Singh was also
nursing a rotator cuff injury to his bowling arm that caused
us to lose a major bowler from the get go. Walter Persaud
was also struggling with a knee injury after the practice
match against India but was forced to play in all of the
matches. Our top batsman, Sunderdat Sookram, pulled up
with a knee injury after the first match which ruled him
out of most of the Cup matches. Our star player, Richard
Sieuchan also pulled up with a groin injury midway through
the tournament that severely crippled his performance
even though he participated in all the matches. One of
our main all-rounders, Hafiz Mohamed, came to Australia
a bit under the weather and had to be carefully managed.
He did not play all of the matches and only bowled 21.1
overs in the entire tournament taking 12 wickets to be #4
in the world ranking. Our liaison officer, George Downes,
of Barbados roots was convinced to join us even though
he was suffering from a knee injury also. He was also able to assist us in
recruiting the De Silva brothers, Richard & Roger, from TT who were residing
in Australia and were willing to take the time off to be a part of our squad
for the tournament.
We lost 6 of our Cup matches in total with most of them being fairly closely
contested; clearly indicating that we had the ability to compete but just could
not get over the line. The rigorous schedule that contributed to most of our
injuries being the number one issue for us like most of the other teams. Our
squad contained 2 @ O70s players and just a few guys in their early 60s. Our
guys were not as fit as they should have been and this is one area on which
we need to place some more emphasis. West Indies suffers from an inherent
problem with its players having to be drawn from all parts of the world and
hardly ever having the opportunity to play together. There is no established
O60s masters league in the Caribbean like most of the other countries and
it is only due to the commitment of those players that we currently have
that ply their trade in their countries of residence that allows us the luxury
of basically fielding a team. Lack of adequate financial resources is a major
bugbear for most countries now establishing and developing masters’ cricket
in a structured manner.The statistics tell a tale all by itself. The batting
was centered around the captain, Roy Singh and the
vice-captain, Richard Sieuchan. There were useful
contributions from Hafiz Mohamed, Keith Lawrence
and Sunderdat Sookram. Sieuchan registered 3 half
centuries but failed to convert any of those into
centuries. Only a few batsmen had a strike rate in
excess of 55: Sieuchan, Roy Singh, Hafiz Mohamed,
Sookram and Roger De Silva who played in the final
match against Zimbabwe where we registered our
solitary victory. A major failing in our batting was the
lack of intent and purpose when some of our batters
had the opportunity. They were not looking to rotate
the strike and more concerned with self-preservation
rather than looking at the bigger picture causing the
team and its chances of winning to suffer.
Our bowling was spearheaded by Prem Singh who fell
short by 2 wickets from being the top bowler in the
world. Quite a few regulation catches were dropped
off his bowling and from others. Hafiz Mohamed only bowled in 5 matches and took
12 wickets to be the #4 bowler. The commitment and dedication of these two bowlers
were exemplary. They could be our trumps moving forward but they need to pay close
attention to their fitness levels and control as their economy rate was a bit on the high
side. Tej Ramroop bowled very creditably to finish with 8 wickets and the #17 spot
in the world but he needs to work on his control also. Richard Sieuchan and Walter
Persaud did not get as many wickets but bowled with tremendous control and accuracy
most of the times to finish with 6 and 5 wickets respectively.
With a team filled with wicketkeepers, Keith Lawrence was only able to feature in the
last few matches and snared 5 catches behind the stumps. His glove work was very good
and kept the entire 45 overs in those matches that he kept wicket. His lack of mobility
in the field may now have made him the first-choice keeper in the side.
In closing, this was only the second series that our O60s team was competing at any
level and it was a tremendous learning experience. Management and the players are
now learning each other’s games and there is a desperate need to broaden the pool
of players available. Motivating players to commit to the team effort whilst attracting
adequate finance will be paramount to us as we move forward towards developing our
masters’ cricket for West Indies.