He soon left Ramprakash eating his dust.The momentum, if not the workmanlike style of the progress, was just what England needed. Apart from causing the West Indies to pause for thought, it allowed Ramprakash to play himself in, without feeling pressured into keeping the scoreboard ticking over.Once settled, the roles suddenly became reversed, with Ramprakash, at last finding the gaps as well as his timing, scoring freely. Without it he is prone to misjudgements and, swaying inside a fast bouncer from Nixon McLean, his second in as many balls, he ended up gloving the ball to a leaping Brian Lara at first slip.By now the hardness, and consequently the potency, of the new ball had begun to wane. But if it became less easy to dismiss batsmen simply by willpower, patience proved an effective substitute. Probing away around Mark Butcher’s off-stump, Ambrose eventually forced the left-hander to edge low to Hooper at second slip to leave England reeling on 53 for 4, and in some disarray as Thorpe’s temporary retirement through injury at lunch forced Jack Russell to join Mark Ramprakash, now looking like a Test batsman of class.A fighter, who no doubt realises that he was perhaps fortunate to be selected, Russell came out of the pavilion like a gunfighter emerging from the “Last Chance Saloon.” He started batting like one too, blazing away with a series of pulls and cuts. Four overs later, Atherton, top-edging Walsh to Ambrose at long leg, followed his opening partner back to the pavilion, his run of low scores clearly forcing him into the ambitious and impatient hook shot that brought his downfall.The same misery can probably be applied to his vice-captain Nasser Hussain, who, since his brilliant 61 in the first of the Trinidad matches, has not made a significant score. Bedevilled by some poor decisions, as well as some poor shots, Hussain has clearly misplaced the bravado his batting thrives on.
In truth he had looked at home on this Oval-like pitch, until Walsh, getting one to bounce from short of a length, had him caught behind by David Williams.By the Surrey man’s impeccable standards it was a soft dismissal, and he would have chastised himself for trifling with a ball that he could have left well alone.Predictably, the wicket sent the fast men into overdrive. In Atherton’s case it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the extra bounce undid both him and Alec Stewart as the home side resorted to their familiar strengths of accurate and hostile fast bowling.Poor England. Confronted by the first good batting pitch of the series, they got off to a cracking start, Stewart stroking a brace of delightful boundaries. But Courtney Walsh and Ambrose are not two of the leading wicket takers in history for nothing and they felt their way into the situation, not tentatively, but like Greek Gods probing with thunderbolts.For once, the pressure – although conversely it may have been the shock of a true pitch – got to Stewart, who on the testing tracks in Trinidad and Guyana has been comfortably England’s best batsman. It is never easy captaining a side when you are barely contributing yourself and Atherton, averaging 13 from his eight Test innings here so far, will have had his normally lucid thoughts scrambled by searching for cures to his batting malaise.His thoughts were spot on in one respect, however, and long before the match had begun, both he and Brian Lara had suggested that the new ball would prove crucial.
In obvious pain early on, the left-hander bravely overcame his debility, eventually flourishing as the West Indies bowlers flagged later in the day.It was a priceless effort by the two batsmen, who resurrected England’s fortunes, which, at 55 for 4, were at a low ebb before lunch. Indeed, until England’s fightback, it had been Caribbean cricket of recent history; brutal, fast and unstinting bowling by men seemingly taller than giants.The average age of the home side may have risen to over 30, but they sniff an opening as keenly as a child can smell sweets, and only some plucky batting by England’s middle-order prevented a first-day rout after Michael Atherton had lost the toss.Although his inability to win the toss is legendary, Atherton’s failure with the bat is a fairly recent phenomenon, and another low score again meant his side were exposed without a steady platform to build upon. Looking composed at the crease, the Middlesex captain took full advantage of a splendid batting pitch to finish the day unbeaten on 80, an innings filled with mature as well as daring strokes, like an on-driven four off Ambrose.
Thorpe, inconvenienced by his back injury, was no less impressive. ENGLAND’S cricketers, despite their fine showing here four years ago, have never taken to Barbados as happily as the holidaymakers who find their way here from Blighty. But if one lot are used to getting cooked by the sun, the others were more in danger of being roasted by traditional West Indian fast bowling until Mark Ramprakash, posting his highest Test score, and Graham Thorpe, the latter’s half-century interrupted by back spasms, added an unbroken 98 runs for the sixth wicket. Batting with great aplomb, Ramprakash, dropped on two by Curtly Ambrose off his own bowling, spent over four and a half hours in the middle. But to go out in ideal conditions and then this, well it’s impossible.”Many players thought that the tournament director, David Garland, should have suspended play at least half an hour earlier but Ballesteros refused to comment..
The sand was blowing into my face and at times I could see nothing. I was nine over for eight holes and I’m very disappointed because I have been playing very well. But now the tournament is over for me.”Ballesteros, after a bogey at the 11th, managed to par the short 12th to be level par for three holes but then went 7, 5, 7, 4, 6, dropping nine shots in just five holes.”It would not have been so bad if we had started in a gale,” said Ballesteros, “because then you would have been mentally prepared. SEVE BALLESTEROS, battling against a freak gale which forced play to be suspended for 90 minutes, admitted he had no chance of victory after playing just eight holes in the first round of the Moroccan Open in Agadir yesterday. The Irishman Des Smyth had already equalled the course record of 64, eight under par, in dead calm conditions to lead the field by three shots before Ballesteros had even begun his round.
The weather was still ideal as the 40-year-old Spanish veteran began with a birdie four at the 10th hole and he hit his drive down the 11th with no knowledge of what was to come.But then the wind got up alarmingly and Ballesteros, from one under par after one hole, went to nine over just seven holes later, playing his first eight holes in 41 shots.After play had been suspended because balls on the greens were moving as players prepared to putt, Ballesteros said: “It was fine playing the 10th hole but on the 11th all of a sudden it was a hurricane.”It was hard to see. The 37-year-old Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Association title will also be at stake, provided he is allowed to delay his mandatory defence against Venezuela’s Antonio Cermeno.
Felix Zabala, Vazquez’s manager, said yesterday: “The WBA meet in Atlantic City on Saturday and, hopefully, they will allow Wilfredo to defend against Hamed, especially as he has been such a credit to the WBA, winning world titles at three of their weights.”Vazquez, a professional for 17 years, 60 fights and 20 world-title bouts, won the WBA bantamweight championship from South Korea’s Chan-Yong Park in October 1987 and took the super-bantamweight crown from the Mexican, Raul Perez, in March 1992.He then beat Eloy Rojas, of Venezuela for the featherweight title in May 1996 and has made four successful defences, the latest against Nicaragua’s Geniro Rios last November.Vazquez, who was in London for yesterday’s media conference, said: “I believe Hamed is an excellent fighter with a strong punch It will be a hard fight.
