Powell, Edwards relieved Antigua’s headaches

Feb 21, 2009 Sports

-WI team rescue WICB

By Rawle Welch
The determined performance by the eleven players that represented West Indies in the Third Test which ended on Thursday must have relieved the migraine headaches that many Antiguans and West Indians felt throughout one of the most haunting weeks in our cricket history.

Beginning on Friday, February 13 at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket ground, the proposed venue for the Second Test which eventually had to be abandoned due to an outfield that more resembled a sandpit, followed by the news that Federal Regulators had charged billionaire Texas banker Sir Allen Stanford, who has enormous investments in Antigua with a ‘massive’ $8 billion international fraud, the draw against England had to be the most positive news that the beleaguered island received for the week.

It was a fitting result for a team that had to endure the shameful development that occurred just over one week ago and then being outplayed by the English for almost the entire match.

The bravery exhibited by the team, especially the two tail-enders Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards, both of whom defied a resolute England bowling attack led by Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison for just about 36 minutes, before the umpires offered them the light that was quickly fading, must have saved the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) from further condemnation for its decision to play the Test on a ground that had to be hastily prepared.

Earlier in the week, the headlines in the media were not about the Test match at the Antigua Recreation ground, but more to do with the Stanford financial fallout and the Second Test debacle.

England completely dominated the match and even the presence of two of the best batsmen in the West Indies team (Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan) at the wicket heading into the final day, that itself would not have instilled absolute confidence in many supporters of the team on its ability to survive the full day.

When Sarwan and Chanderpaul were dismissed and wickets started to tumble even the most die-hard West Indian followers would have felt that defeat was inevitable and the series squared.
Obviously, no one thought that tail-enders Powell and Edwards, more known for their bowling than batting were capable of saving the match and protecting our slim 1-0 lead. Well, the result shows that they did just that.

After winning the First Test in Jamaica convincingly, the West Indies travelled to Antigua brimming with confidence and their fans anticipating an encore, but after just 14 minutes and 1.4 overs, the match had to be abandoned which certainly would have disappointed the players.

They took it in stride and despite trailing almost all the way, the team came up with a ‘big’ play when it mattered.

As veteran cricket writer Tony Cozier said during a segment of his commentary, this team is steadily showing more character, adding that they are now taking some of the best teams in the game to five days even in a loss, a far cry from two years ago when they suffered embarrassing defeats within three to four days. It was the West Indies team to the rescue when the WICB and West Indian fans needed it most.