‘Tadpole’ tests Windwards

But, after the truncated final session of play, the Windwards, whose captain Rawl Lewis elected to bat after winning the toss (taken at 4.05 pm) were in a bit of strife at 48 runs for two wickets.

The cricket fans who waited patiently throughout the day, which was blessed with fantastic sunshine later on, saw two late wickets by left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed as the Windwards lost both opening batsmen within the space of 10 minutes.

West Indies opener Devon Smith proceded comfortably to 28 with an array of off-side strokes, both off the back and front foot, before the left-hander slapped a long-hop from Mohammed’s first over straight to Sherwin Ganga at midwicket.

The fall of the wicket was the impetus the home team needed after spending most of the evening struggling to come to terms with the even-paced wicket, the sodden outfield and Smith’s determination.

But with Smith’s departure, his fellow opener Rommel Currency, who was tested by accuracy of pacers Richard Kelly and Rayad Emrit, went into a shell.

His defensive mindset backfired as he padded up to a Mohammed delivery and gloved a catch to Gregory Mahabir at forward short leg.

The Windwards, who omitted batsman Alvin La Fuille and pacer Jean Paul from their 13-man team, accepted the offer for light from umpires Hayden Bruce and Clyde Duncan with one over remaining.

Mahabir returned to the team in place of the injured star batsman Brian Lara while off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth returned at the expense of leg-spinner Sanjiv Gooljar, whose season was curtailed following a freak injury in practice yesterday morning.

Gooljar, who made a promising debut thus far, got a blow on the left knee from all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and, after being flown back to Trinidad for treatment, learnt that he sustained damage to his patella and was out for at least two months.

Jaggernauth offered a number of flighted deliveries to both openers, who seemed willing to boost the scoring rate before the introduction of Mohammed.

On a depressing note, with the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup approaching, it was mind-boggling to see the groundsmen using sponges, buckets and wheelbarrows to dry the outfield, which was saturated by torrential overnight showers.

What made matters even worse was that, with most First-Class venues outfitted with super-soakers and up-to-date draining systems, no provision was made for such measures at Shaw Park.

And the players’ frustration was evident when it was learnt that the bowlers’ run-up was not protected by the covers, hence the need for four inspections by the umpires before the first ball was delivered at 4.15 pm.