Lara in a dangerous mood

THE JAMAICAN cricket team is reportedly preparing for a backlash from star West Indies batsman and captain Brian Lara. Lara’s team, Trinidad and Tobago, face the homesters at Sabina Park in Kingston today in the final preliminary round match in Group “A” of the regional Red Stripe Bowl one-day tournament. Both teams have already qualified for the knock-out phase of the contest but the winners today will determine the leaders of the group and their opponents in the semi-finals on October 16 and 17. Yesterday manager of the TT team, Omar Khan, speaking in a telephone interview from Jamaica, said Lara is in a very dangerous mood following the loss of his world record for the most runs in a Test innings on Friday. Overtaking Lara was hard-hitting Australian left-handed opening batsman Matthew Hayden who slammed 380 against Zimbabwe on the second day of the First Test at Perth.
   
“Yes, Lara will be coming out to prove, that despite being relieved of the Test record, he is still the best batsman in the world,” said Khan. TT have won their three matches to date against the Leeward Islands, Canada and the Windwards. The clash today is being billed as a virtual final, a point stressed by Khan yesterday. “The captain of the team, Daren Ganga, has been emphasising this point since the beginning of the tournament that the team approaches each match as if it were a final,” said Khan. He said that ace fast bowler Mervyn Dillon has been discharged from hospital after being struck by lightning on Thursday during the rain-affected match against the Windwards at Kensington Park. Dillon and Windward Islands’ fast bowler Fernix Thomas, who was also hurt in the incident, left the University of the West Indies (Mona) Hospital on Friday. However Khan said Dillon has been told by the medical authorities that he should rest after complaning of severe pain in his ear and headaches. Khan said although Dillon’s absence will hurt the bowling attack against Jamaica, the situation provides the ideal opportunity for young fast bowlers Theodore Modeste and Ryad Emrit to fill the gap.

The PowerGen engineer who works in the company’s Corporate Communi-cations Department in Port-of-Spain, also has great confidence in the ability of the spinners to swing the match TT’s way . “Dinanath Ramnarine and David Mohammed have both been bowling very well taking the honours in two of the matches to date. We are hopeful that the spinners should play a great part as they have done so far in the tournament,” said Khan. Khan heaped praises on the performance of Shazam Babwah who hit an undefeated 103 on Thursday against the Windwards to rescue TT who were at one stage precariously placed at 47 for seven wickets, batting first. The 27-year-old Clico Preysal captain struck seven fours and four sixes off 99 balls batting at number seven in the line-up. “It was a fantastic innings and shows just what could be achieved when you put your mind to the job. He has lifted the entire mood of the team who now believe that they can go all the way,” said Khan. It was Babwah’s maiden First Class century and could not have come at a more crucial time in the team’s campaign to win the regional limited overs championship. The other match today, in Group “A” pits Antigua/Barbuda against Guyana at the Antigua Recreation Ground, St John’s. Winners and runners-up in this group travel to Jamaica for the semi-finals next week.