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Windies topple Pakistan to clinch CLICO Under-15 International title
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – West Indies gave an inspired all-round performance to exact revenge against Pakistan in the CLICO Under-15 International Championship Round-Robin Series final yesterday at the Queen’s Park Oval.
After being defeated by two runs by Pakistan in the knockout final two Thursdays ago in St Kitts, the West Indies outfit triumphed easily this time against the visitors by 89 runs to lift the prestigious CLICO Trophy.
Chasing the home side’s challenging total of 228 for seven off the allotted 50 overs, the Pakistanis struggled in front of a decent crowd and were stifled to 139 all out in 42.5 overs.
It was a fitting end for the West Indies youngsters, who were well tuned up for the grand finale by their coach, former Test cricketer Keith Arthurton.
The result gives the Caribbean’s young teenaged cricketers another title success.
West Indies won the 2000 Costcutter U-15 World Championship in England eight years ago, the last time a similar tournament was played.
Missing from this year’s tournament though were major Test playing nations Australia, England, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Leading the victory charge for West Indies were prolific opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite, who notched another half-century, and impressive all-rounder Ramon Senior, who struck 50 and bagged four wickets for 24 runs to claim the ‘Player-of-the-Match’ award.
Only skipper Muhammad Babar impressed with 51 off 60 balls, laced with six fours.
The only other batsmen to reach double figures were Usman Qadir (21) and Ahsan Mirza (17).
The others failed to negotiate the probing six-pronged pace and spin attack employed by the West Indies captain Steven Katwaroo.
In pursuit of their victory target, the Pakistanis were off to a poor start as with the first ball of their innings, opener Muhammad Naeem was trapped in front to Kyle Mayers without scoring.
The visitors never recovered from that early loss and there was a constant trek to and from the pavilion as the talented Senior broke the back of their middle-order batting.
Senior also held two brilliant catches, including that of Babar, who was the seventh batsman to be dismissed.
Earlier, openers Braithwaite and John Campbell gave their team a good start, posting 66 runs for the first wicket after Katwaroo chose to bat on a placid Oval track.
However, with the introduction of leg-spinner Usman Qadir, the much needed breakthrough for the Pakistanis came, when Qadir, son of former Pakistan spinner Abdul Qadir, had Campbell caught in the deep by Zafar Gohar for a well-played 37, which came off 44 deliveries and included five fours.
Senior joined Brathwaite and the pair -- although they found the going tough at times -- batted intelligently against the probing spin of Qadir.
They added 85 off 156 balls for the second wicket, before Senior was well-stumped by wicketkeeper Faizan Khan off Gohar’s bowling for an even 50 off 86 balls, which was decorated with five fours and one six.
The 15-year-old Brathwaite continued to carry the fight against the opposition attack.
He saw the dismissals of Sunil Ambris (2), Kyle Mayers (5) and Derone Davis (12) before he was the sixth wicket to fall with the total on 202, run-out for a solid 82.
The right-handed batsman faced 128 balls and struck three fours.
Brathwaite ended both – knockout and league – phases of the series with a total of 548 runs.
Qadir was the pick of the Pakistanis bowlers with the impressive figures of three for 25 from 10 overs.
Former West Indies Test fast bowler Kenny Benjamin, the assistant coach of the regional team, praised the team’s performance.
He spoke highly of Brathwaite’s batting and Senior’s bowling.
“I like the approach of Brathwaite. He has a healthy appetite for runs. He likes to bat long and that is commendable and a good sign. He has a good future ahead of him,” said Benjamin, who played in 26 Test matches and captured 92 wickets.
He stated that Senior is an intelligent player, who once harnessed and nurtured can go a long way in the game.
A prize-giving function for the teams was staged last night.
WEST INDIES INNINGS
K. Brathwaite run-out 82
J. Campbell c Gohar b Qadir 37
R. Senior stp. F Khan b Gohar 50
S. Ambris run-out 2
K. Mayers c Gohar b Qadir 5
D. Davis stp. F. Khan b Qadir 12
A. Saunders run-out 14
D. Nelson not out 11
K. Hodge not out 7
Extras: (lb-2, w-5, nb-1) 8
Total: (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 228
Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-151, 3-154, 4-173, 5-190, 6-202, 7-210.
Bowling: 6-0-41-0 (w-3), Basharat 6-2-23-0, Qadir 10-2-25-3 (nb-1), Ahsan 10-1-47-0 (w-1), Gohar 10-0-45-1 (w-1), Nawaz 8-0-45-0.
PAKISTAN INNINGS
M. Naeem lbw Mayers 0
M. Babar c Senior b Davis 51
A. Ali run-out 8
K. Abass lbw Senior 2
M. Nawaz c Ambris b Senior 0
Z. Gohar c Ambris b Senior 0
F. Khan c & b Senior 12
U. Qadir c Depeiza b Nelson 21
A. Mirza b Hodge 17
N. Basharat c Senior b Nelson 1
S. Nagvi not out 6
Extras: (w-16, nb-2, b-2, lb-1) 21
Total: (all out, 42.5 overs) 139
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-32, 3-49, 4-49, 5-53, 6-83, 7-91, 8-116, 9-117.
Bowling: Mayers 4-0-28-1 (w-11), Depeiza 2-0-17-0 (w-4), Senior 10-1-24-4, Davis 10-1-32-1 (nb-1), Nelson 9-2-21-2, Hodge 7.5-2-14-1 (w-1, nb-1).
Result: West Indies win by 89 runs.
Player-of-the-Match: Ramon Senior (West Indies)
Toss: West Indies
Umpires: Murray Erasmus (South Africa) & Nadir Shah
Hosts lack preparation ahead of Australia Tests
Same old Windies story
Fazeer Mohammed
May 5, 2008
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Dwayne Bravo is one of several West Indies players who will not return home from the Indian Premier League until four days before the first Test against Australia © Getty Images
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Who is really who in the upcoming Test series? You would think that the West Indies are playing the role of the all-conquering Muhammad Ali and the Australians are cast in the mould of the huge underdog Earnie Shavers given the degree of preparation, so far, by both sides ahead of the opening showdown at Sabina Park in 17 days' time.
Ali fanatics may not need any reminding, but the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world came fairly close to paying the price for complacency when Shavers took him to 15 rounds in their contest at Madison Square Garden in New York in September, 1977. Criticised for a lack of intensity in his training leading into the fight, the champ prevailed on a unanimous points decision, although some seasoned observers maintained that the comfortable margin of victory had more to do with Ali's larger-than-life reputation than his dominance of the challenger.
The point is, though, that the favourite prevailed in the end, much as the Aussies are expected to do in the three-Test series despite the run of three consecutive victories by the Caribbean side [2nd Test and first two ODIs] last month at home to Sri Lanka. But unlike the man who proclaimed himself to be "The Greatest," Ricky Ponting and his squad are not giving any indication of taking their two-month swing through the islands in the sun as a leisurely, well-paid holiday with some cricket against lightweight opponents thrown in every now and then.
Despite the considerable attraction of huge pay-cheques appearing for their respective franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the entire Australian Test touring party is now in Brisbane for a training camp before the players depart for Kingston next week. The veteran left-hander Simon Katich, recalled to the Test squad after a record-breaking domestic season with New South Wales, was facing up to Brett Lee in the indoor nets last Saturday at the Sydney Cricket Ground just a day after returning from India.
It could be argued that Katich would already have been in pretty good shape after turning out for the King's XI Punjab in the early matches of the IPL. However the 32-year-old, who averages 36.00 in 23 Tests, is obviously keen to make the most of this opportunity after more than two years in the international wilderness. The circumstances of his last Test innings - caught by Chris Gayle at first slip off Corey Collymore for a duck at The Gabba in the first Test of the 2005 series - are probably additional motivation to make amends should he get a chance in the Caribbean.
So while the champions are already down to business in the tropical climate of Brisbane, what's the story with the home side? Following the Sri Lankan series, new manager Omar Khan talked about preparations for a training camp before going into battle with the Australians. However the dates and venue for that camp, if confirmed, are yet to be made public, while the training squad, if already selected, has not yet been released by the West Indies Cricket Board.
Nothing new with those two issues, and it is also stale news that the trio of West Indians now involved in the IPL [Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo - Gayle has been ruled out a groin injury] will not be back until May 18, four days before the start of the first Test. Add to that the uncertainty over the captain's fitness and it seems to be the same old story of time and opportunity lost before an important assignment.
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It's interesting to compare the priorities of the West Indians and Australians when it comes to national duty and the IPL, for they seem as far apart as their respective countries ... There was never a question of the [Australians] trying to persuade their administrators to excuse them from the camp and let them stay on for another week of IPL money-making |
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It's interesting to compare the priorities of the West Indians and Australians when it comes to national duty and the IPL, for they seem as far apart as their respective countries. The Aussies are among the highest paid in international cricket based on their retainer contracts with Cricket Australia. Still, the prospect of earning up to three times their regular salaries for just a few weeks' work in India was too good to pass up, although there was never a question of the selected players trying to persuade their administrators to excuse them from the camp and let them stay on for another week of IPL money-making.
Their West Indian counterparts do not have retainer arrangements, however the Caribbean cricketers' match/tour contracts, thanks to aggressive and effective representation from the West Indies Players Association, means they are very well taken care of, even if it is not at the level of the Australians.
Yet before the ICC meeting in Dubai which mandated that official international commitments take precedence over sanctioned private competitions, the WICB CEO Donald Peters was prepared to concede that the IPL-bound West Indians would not have been available for the first two Tests of the three-match series. Even after the ICC's clarification, there was still speculation about the players' date of return, the implication being that IPL money was higher up the batting order for one or two of them than playing for West Indies in a Test match.
Last Saturday made it 13 years since Mark Taylor's men humbled Richie Richardson's West Indies side by an innings and 53 runs at Sabina to reclaim the Frank Worrell Trophy and bring to an end an era of Caribbean invincibility in Test series that had spanned more than 15 years.
Katich's sharpening of his skills against Lee and others on that anniversary day suggests that the tourists won't be caught unawares by hosts seeking to score a lucky punch.
Fazeer Mohammed is a writer and broadcaster in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
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