- Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
St. Catherine CC's wicketkeeper Dean Morgan (right) and teammates react after a successful appeal against JDF's Wayne Cuff during their Supreme Ventures Super Cup semi-final at Sabina Park yesterday. Cuff made 17.
Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
MELBOURNE'S REPUTATION as one of the best cricket clubs in Jamaica was struck a major blow yesterday as the home team's Supreme Ventures/Super Cup semi-final match against Kensington was abandoned.
After 36 overs, Kensington, sent in to bat, were well placed on 136 for two, but after lunch both captains, Ray Stewart of Melbourne and Wavell Hinds of Kensington, and the umpires decided the pitch was unfit for play, which immediately brought back memories of the 1998 abandoned Sabina Park Test between the West Indies and Eng-land after only 55 minutes of play.
After the break umpires Vivian John-son and Lebert Thom-pson found the pitch was worse than how they left it.
"It (pitch) was dug up after the groundsman swept it during the lunch break ... this was due to the bowlers follow through at the Courtney Walsh end (southern)," umpire Johnson said.
THREE OPTIONS
Before they decided to end the match, the umpires said three options were put to the captains. They were: 1. Repair the pitch; 2. Use another pitch and 3. Abandoned the match - which all four involved decided on.
Hinds the home team for the under-prepared pitch.
"I think it was a substandard pitch for the premier competition in Jamaica - particularly in the semi-final stages. It was not maliciously done but at the same time they (Melbourne) had sufficient time to prepare a proper wicket."
The Kensington and West Indies opening batsman said things looked good at the start but when the conditions deteriorated it would have been unfair for his inexperienced lower order to face Melbourne's and the competition leading wicket-taker Nikita Miller (2-43) who had earlier removed Hinds (79) and Ranville Brown (13), both caught behind by Osbourne Chin.
The pitch, mostly at the southern end, was in a terrible condition which would have assisted left-arm spinner Miller bowling to the left-handers.
"I had two young left-handers to come and that would have been asking a lot of them," Hinds said.
Hinds said the Jamaica Cricket Association's (JCA) should award the match to Kensington. However, former Jam-aica and Melbourne skipper Robert Samuels did not share that view.
While Samuels endor-sed the decision to call off the match, he said: "People should sit down and rule on the facts".
Samuels said he hoped the Rodrick Gordon-chaired JCA disciplinary committee would take into account the fact there was a free weekend in which the match could be played.
The committee's decision will be largely based on the umpire's report.
The JCA's first vice president, Paul Campbell, who was at Melbourne Oval, said: "This is an unfortunate situation. However, a decision should be made by Wednesday. A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and hopefully we will have all the reports in."
St Catherine, Soldiers in tense battle
Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
A KEEN contest is brewing at Sabina Park where defending champions Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and St. Catherine Cricket Club are fighting for the right of passage through to the final of the Supreme Ventures Super Cup.
At stumps yesterday, St. Catherine CC were 85 for the loss of two wickets in pursuit of JDF's first innings score of 257 and, by all indication, the finalist will most likely be decided on first innings points.
Mark Gray, batting at No. 3, hit a top score of 72 for JDF, bringing some level of respectability to his team's total after it lost its first wicket with the score on 16. Gray batted with Mel Wint (62) to take JDF to 144, before Wint fell, bowled by Damion Morgan. Gray went soon after, caught by Bevan Brown off the bowling of David Morgan with the score on 153-3.
The rest of the JDF batting crumbled as only Anthony Folkes (30), Wayne Cuff (17), Cpt. Paul Brown (15) and Omar Ellington (16) got into double figures.
Damion Morgan and Bevan Brown were the chief destroyers. Morgan ended with figures of 4-38 off 14 overs while Brown picked up 4-64 off his 19 overs. Odean Brown chipped in with two wickets.
When St. Catherine started their reply, they lost their captain, Renford Pinnock Jnr., who was caught at slip attempting a hook shot off pacer Kamal Dennis. Pinnock made 10.
Ellington then induced a false shot from Danza Hyatt (33), who seemed well set to go on a big score. With the score on 63, he angled one into the right-hander's pads which he failed to negotiate well and was gobbled up at short leg by Mark Gray.
However, opener Dean Morgan (19 not out) and Tamar Lambert (13 not out) will resume the battle for St. Catherine, who also have former Jamaican batsman Tony Powell slated to come in next.
