The second Test match between England and West Indies was a very exciting one for both teams and spectators. More than 12,000 cricket lovers filled Sabina Park to see their favourites in action.

Published Friday, February 9, 1968

2nd Test: England start soundly

-Visitors score 222 for 2;

-12,000 watch opening day’s play at Sabina Park

ENGLAND MADE A SOUND start on the opening day of the second Test match against the West Indies yesterday at Sabina Park. The England approach followed very closely the pattern of the first Test at Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, last month.

As in the first Test match of the series for the Wisden Trophy, which the West Indies are defending. Colin Cowdrey won the toss. Ignoring the pre-match speculation about the wicket and also the liveliness of the wicket for the Jamaica match, Cowdrey elected to bat.

It was a decision that early proved him correct. The wicket gave the fast bowlers no help whatever. And then when the spinners, Lance Gibbs, David Holford, and Garfield Sobers, were brought in to attack. They turned the ball, but only slowly, and so had to rely on variation of pace and flight. Sobers and Gibbs bowled extremely well. Sobers did well to claim the wicket of Edrich, when the batsman appeared well set for his Test hundred. This was Sobers’ 150th in Tests.

It was a good, fighting day of cricket for the student of the game. The cricket was interesting from start to finish. At the close of play, with eight wickets intact, and a wealth of batting to come, England were in a strong position, having scored 222 to 2.

England scored 244 for the loss of two wickets on the first day of the Trinidad Test. The oversight pair then was the same as in this match. Cowdrey was out in the first over the next morning. The West Indies will need an early breakthrough today.

Although Boycott and Edrich did not give the team as good a start as in the first Test, when they put on 80 before Boycott was trapped leg before by Holford, yesterday, they put together 49 when Boycott played on from Hall. But Edrich remained to do a magnificent job for his side.

With his skipper the second-wicket partnership was worth 129 before Edrich was caught by Kanhai at extra-cover off Sobers, bowling his bag of tricks. Edrich was four runs short of his century.

Cowdrey determined to place his team in the same unbeatable position as in the Trinidad Test, defied everything that the West Indies could throw at him. Batting from 18 minutes before lunch, Cowdrey was undefeated at the close with 80 runs to his credit. It was the sort of captain’s  innings that should inspire his men to great heights.

It became abundantly clear by mid-afternoon that Cowdrey’s plan was to bat once. Barrington was looking as good in the closing stage that the West Indies seem to face another hard day in the field today when play is returned.

Everything went right for England yesterday. First, they won the Tests, then their batsmen put their heads down and defiled the West Indies attack, which did not look impressive before lunch. The fast bowlers, Hall and Griffith, were not constantly on target. Too many balls were bowled that the batsmen did not have to play at. At the same time, the wicket was placed. It was made easy by the rain on Tuesday night. And the pre-match reports that the wicket would be very fast west overboard.

Cowdrey has been at the wicket for nearly four hours over his 80. While this is painfully slow going. it is understandable when it is realised that he is working towards an objective to leave very little, if any, batting for his team to do if they have to bat a second time.

Regains control

Sobers is a fantastic cricketer. He showed this again yesterday when he put on show- the best piece of bowling for the day after tea, and regained control when things seemed to be slipping away from the West Indies. But not only did Sobers bowl well he handled his attack intelligently as well. His field placing was good too. Sobers appears to be back in form again.

Although there were a few fielding errors, the West Indies did creditably well. All but for the excellent support Camacho. Kanhai, Sobers, Lloyd and others gave the bowlers, the England score may have been more than the 222 for 2. To have contained the England side for this score in five and a half hours of batting was very good.

Yet I thought that Hall and Griffith erred in not reducing their speed and try to concentrate on length and direction, and these forced the batsmen into errors. Sheer speed was useless since they got little movement. When Sobers bowled his pace stuff early in the day, it showed that both Hall and Griffith could have been successful if they too tried to seam the ball.

It now appears that his second test match is shaping up to a long and terrific battle. But with 22 runs in the book and 8 wickets standing. England must already have the feeling that this is one Test they will not lose, and be optimistic about victory. Yet with four days to go anything can happen.

Yesterday’s play was watched by a crowd of about 12,000.

Speculation

It was a cool, sunny day. The day’s proceeding began on a gala note, and with tremendous excitement and speculations were thrown in about the wicket. Sportswriters, radio and television commentators reporting the series, as well as cricketers, and even the spectator who has never played the game, all went out and inspected the wicket.

They all gave widely different opinions as to how the wicket was likely to play. Some of those who inspected it were even pointing out an imaginary ridge which they said would make the pitch dangerous. But subsequent events proved that this was not true.

The queries had started from early morning. By 10 o’clock the ground had a large crowd, most of them wearing the colourful red and green sun hats. Even on the northeastern pylon, there were spectators halfway up.

The Police Band and the Drum Corps under the command of Supt. Wooton was entertaining the crowd before the start of the play.

Things began to happen quickly and historically when the Prime Minister, the Hon. Hugh Shearer, arrived for the players of both teams to be presented to him. However, the historic moment came when the Jamaican stamps, issued to commemorate the visit of the touring MCC crickets, were presented to Colin Cowdrey, the England captain.

The Prime Minister had a happy word for each player as the introductions were made.

Big moment

With Everton Weekes, the manager of the West Indies team, down in bed with influenza. West Indies Cricket Board selector Berkeley Gaskin, deputized for him.

Then came the big moment when the captains. Sobers and Cowdrey went out for the tossing of the coin.

Sobers spun. Cowdrey called “tails” and “tails” it was. It was the second consecutive time in the series that Cowdrey had gained the advantage by winning the toss.

Earlier it had been announced from the West Indies camp that opening batsman Steve Camacho had passed the fitness test. His injured knee was better. Jamaica’s captain and opening batsman Easton McMorris, former West Indies batsman, who had been included in the West Indies 12, was left out.

Jamaica batsman Herman Bennett, the star of the island’s batting in the second innings against MCC with 41 not out, was named emergency fieldsman.

The wicket had a shiny and brown surface. It also showed a few cracks. But the apprehension of the batsmen quickly vanished as the opening pair of Geoff Boycott and left-hander John Edrich settled into the bowling of Hall from the southern end and Griffith from the northern end. Boycott took strike. He got a single from Hall’s fifth ball, which he knew very little about, as the ball flew from his glove and travelled out on the leg-side. It was a very good over, although Hall was far from being flat out.

Griffith bowling downhill slipped immediately into an aggressive groove.

But neither of the fast men kept on target. Thus the batsmen were allowed to relax. Tuesday night’s rain, which fell on the wicket, and the extensive rolling and preparation it received made life easy for the batsmen. For it was a positively placid wicket.

Hour’s toil

Hall, after bowling for just under an hour, was replaced by his captain, Sobers. Hall’s spell was 5-0-18-0, Sobers, bowling seamers and doing more with the ball than either Hall or Griffith, looked dangerous. His first over was one of three maidens he bowled in his pre-lunch spell of 8-3-12-0.

After an hour’s play, the score was 34 runs scored off 104 overs. Both batsmen were on 14 Edrich became bogged down on 14, while his partner Boycott made steady progress.

The West Indies fast bowlers had to toil for one hour and 25 minutes for the fall of the first wicket. The wicket which went down was a valuable prize too. It was that of Boycott, bowled by Hall for 17, with the total on 49. Boycott batted for 100 minutes, hitting two fours.

Hall had relieved Griffith whose spell was 8-3-17-0. Growing confident and having had a good look at the bowling. Boycott attempted to force once from Hall, which moved off the seam into the batsman square of the wicket out on to the offside. But he succeeded only in playing onto his off stump, which was knocked out of the ground. It gave Hall his 175th wicket in Test cricket.

Cowdrey came next. A misunderstanding in the field resulted in a single taking the score to 30 in 103 minutes. There-after Edrich and Cowdrey who had replaced Boycott butted quietly to lunch, which was taken at 62 for the loss of Boycott’s wicket after two hour’s play. Edrich was on 35 and Cowdrey 4.

A total of 25 overs were bowled in the session. When they came back Gibbs bowling for the first time, started with a maiden over to Edrich.

Griffith bowled uphill.

The batsmen set about playing themselves in again, Gibbs in his third over, cause the first bit of excitement when a well-flighted delivery, which the England captain after attempting to drive, changed his mind, and just had time to prevent it from getting through him.

The next bit of excitement and disappointment for the crowd came when a Griffith no-ball howled Edrich. It was tough luck for Griffith for the batsman was committed to the stroke as umpire Sang Hue called no-ball. It was not a case at all of Edrich allowing the ball to hit his wicket.

Edrich’s sixth four was a pull off Gibbs to the mid-wicket boundary.

A very confident appeal for leg before by Gibbs as he rapped Cowdrey, on the pad, playing forward, was turned down by umpire Jordan.

A misfield by Griffith in the covers took Edrich from 45 to 49.

Sobers promptly brought himself on in place of Griffith. However, the two batsmen looked as solid as a rock. Then Edrich singled Gibbs on the leg-side to reach his 50 (seven fours) out of 92 in 162 minutes. Cowdrey batting soundly, and having all the time in the world to make his strokes, was on 18.

At 97 Sobers gave way to right arm leg spinner Holford. One run came from the over, due to a misfield by Lloyd in the covers. They brought up the 50 partnership in 73 minutes.

Then the score reached 100 in 174 minutes. Bowling without a man in the deep, Holford was hit high and safely overhead for four. Gradually the batsmen tried to get on top of the West Indies attack, however the field-men continued to give the bowlers satisfactory support. Gibbs tried everything he knew without success. His bowling was tidy. Even so he could not completely contain Cowdrey who latecut him sweetly for four Holford at the other end also kept a tidy length.

Edrich late cut and drove Gibbs for a couple of fours. When he drove Holford through the covers for another four, he was in full cry and seemed safely on his way to his century.

Slow stuff

At 147, Hall replaced Gibbs whose spell was 15-3-44-0. Edrich edged Hall for 2 to bring up the hundred partnership in 113 minutes of which Cowdrey contributed 41. Edrich was on 79.

Griffith came in place of Holford whose spell was 8-0-20-0.

But there was no stopping the batsmen. Edrich moved into the nineties. He then cover drove Griffith for 4, and need 5 for his hundred whilst Cowdrey wanted two for his 50 with the score of 171. Sobers made no attempt to close up the game.

When they went in for tea the score was 172 for 1; Edrich 95 in four hours’ batting and Cowdrey 48 in 138 minutes batting. The pair added 110 runs in the two hours between lunch and tea. There were extras.

Sobers bowled his slow stuff to Edrich after tea. His first over to left-hander was a maiden. Hall bowled from the northern end.

The West Indies got their second wicket at 178 when Edrich was caught by Kanhai at extra-cover off the bowling of Sobers for 96. Edrich had seen his captain reach his 50 in 148 minutes. It included six fours. Edrich during his staying of four and a quarter hours hit 14 fours, and with his skipper put on 129 for the second wicket. The wicket gave Sobers his 150th in the Test.

It was the second time in consecutive matches that Edrich had lost his wicket when within sight of his century. He was run out in the Jamaica-MCC match, when two short of his hundred.

Barrington, the next batsman in, began briskly but had a couple of narrow escapes when he was beaten by Gibbs bowling from the southern end.

The 200 went up in 284 minutes with Cowdrey 64 and Barrington 11. The new ball also became due, however, Sobers and Gibbs, delayed taking it. The West Indies captain was mixing his Chinaman and googly in a way that befuddled both batsmen.

Sobers took the new ball with the score on 211 to give Hall bowling downhill and Griffith going uphill, a final shot at Cowdrey and Barrington. Even so, Barrington had looked so tentative to the spinners (Sobers and Gibbs), and the first bowlers had been given so much work to do, that it may have been a wiser thing to defer the taking of the new ball until this morning.

But with Hall and Griffith on the atmosphere became electrified with tension and excitement. Cowdrey and Barrington held out to the close of play.

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