England A found themselves under pressure in Anguilla today when LeewardsIslands made the most of some wayward bowling and a fast scoring track.
RidleyJacobs : Strokeplay
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Despite the first day of this final round Busta Cup match being shortened tojust over 81 overs due to rain, Leewards rattled up 300 for five, Alex Adamsand Ridley Jacobs providing some of the best entertainment of the tournamentso far with some ebullient strokeplay.On such a lively pitch, control of the game was always going to lie with theside that made the least mistakes so a disappointing day for England Astarted when skipper Mark Alleyne lost the toss, giving the chance forLeewards’ batsmen to make first use of a pitch which promised plenty ofruns.The onus was on the seamers to stem the flow but Alex Tudor, who missed thelast two games with a side strain, took his time to find his rhythm, hisfirst four overs going for 25.In keeping with the recent weather patterns, a monsoonal shower swept acrossthe island just 20 minutes into play and the groundstaff scurried on withthe covers to protect the glossy sheen that groundsman Dale Rogers hasworked hard in recent weeks to achieve.Rogers, a mechanical engineer who tends the Webster Park pitch in his sparetime, has produced the best track in the Caribbean, he says, and he is notfar wrong. Flat, quick and bouncy, it offered something for everyone withruns coming thick and fast for the batsmen and bowlers rewarded forconsistent line and length.The first half hour break for rain proved worthwhile for England A, whoexploited a lapse in concentration by the batsmen. Junie Mitchum failed toget behind the line of a ball from Chris Silverwood and mistimed a hook shotdown to long leg. The catch was safely taken by Tudor, which went some wayin making up for the hammering he took earlier.He made up more lost time after changing ends when he struck with twowickets in three balls, Stuart Williams eventually caught in the slips aftera fumble from wicketkeeper James Foster and Sylvester Joseph bowled for aduck.But the introduction of spin into the attack gave Adams and Wilden Cornwalla chance to find their feet and Cornwell pounced, hitting four identicalboundaries off the back foot off in one Graeme Swann over.The onslaught continued until the stand was worth 69 runs when Cornwall,flashing wildly at a wide ball from Tudor, edged it to slip giving Swann thechance to wreak his revenge.A second stoppage for rain served to focus the mind of Adams and the rest ofthe day belonged to him and later to Jacobs, who on Tuesday landed inAnguilla following his exhausting three month tour of Australia.The fielders could do little about the barrage of boundaries coming from theblade of the powerful Adams as he found gaps all round the wicket with acomposure and instinct that makes him an exciting prospect for the future.By the time he fell lbw to Jon Lewis, he had made 75, in an attractiveinnings that included 11 fours. His departure paved the way for anotheronslaught, this time by Jacobs who seemed relieved that after three monthsof facing Glenn McGrath, he was back in paradise able to play whatever shothe chose to good effect.At stumps, he had made his way to a quickfire 88, his partner Carl Tuckettincreasing in confidence with an unbeaten 43.Afterwards, coach Peter Moores admitted England A’s bowling had fallen belowthe normal standards shown on this Busta Cup tour.”It was a different sort of wicket with much more pace and bounce and one ofthose where anything too full or too short or wide was penalised,” he said.”But you have to give them credit – they played really well and took thegame to us, keeping the pressure on us all day. Jacobs and Adams wereparticularly strong. In all our previous games, we have been able to squeezepeople and allow them to make mistakes but today we did not bowl well enoughand on a proper pitch like this, you have to get the ball in the right areaevery time. We bowled too many `four’ balls and paid the price,” Mooressaid.