Tony Becca

St. Elizabeth are the cricket champions of Jamaica, and heartiest congratulations to them. They truly deserve to wear the crown.

Starting last weekend's final round of the Super Cup, St. Elizabeth needed only to avoid defeat to win the Cup, and they not only did that. In a wonderful performance, they also won the match, and in style at that.

Coming to town and playing against many-times champions Melbourne at home - against the team that could win the Cup provided they won the match and the team that believed they could win the match, St. Elizabeth won the toss, and with a draw good enough for them, sent Melbourne to bat.

As far as they were concerned, Melbourne, with their vaunted batting line-up, could bat for ever, and with Damion Henry hooking Jerome Taylor for two sixes in the opening over, with the umpires having to replace the ball in the opening over because Henry had hit it so far it could not be found, Melbourne got off to a fine start, one which suggested that they were looking for quick runs in order to make an early declaration - a declaration that they hope would give them enough time to dismiss St. Elizabeth twice and to win the match and the Cup.

Before the over was completed, however, Henry was back in the pavilion, in the following over from Taylor, Omar Allison was also back in the pavilion, and within a few minutes, Melbourne were on the ropes and reeling at 18 for five.

History

By lunch, the Melbourne innings was history, by close of the day's play, the match was all but over, and midway through the following day, it was over with Melbourne, routed for 76 in their first innings, falling by seven wickets.

That 76 represented Melbourne's lowest since 1970 when Boys' Town nailed them twice in one day at Melbourne Oval, and following on last year's result in the match between the two teams, last weekend's performance by St. Elizabeth certainly confirms their superiority over the city team.

Last year, Melbourne went to St. Elizabeth in need of a victory to really challenge St. Catherine CC for the Cup, and after falling for 143 and 130, they were beaten by five wickets.

This year, St. Elizabeth went to Melbourne, and in winning the match with a lot of time to spare, in chipping to 315 after embarrassing the batsmen of Melbourne, knocked them flat in their own backyard.

Following Manchester's victory in 2005, this performance by St. Elizabeth must make all the rural folks in this country proud, and hats off to all those who, in the 1980s, fought for the opening up of the country's cricket - for an all-island league involving the clubs and the parishes.

Proud

Remembering the first season in 1990 when Clarendon, after dismissing Melbourne for 90 in the final on a rain-affected pitch at Chedwin Park, were routed for 89 and thus failed to win the match and the Cup by one run, and when, in another low-scoring match, Clarendon lost the limited-over final to Melbourne at Nelson Oval by a fraction of a run, the rural teams have done themselves proud - so much so that unlike previous years when the city teams outnumbered the rural teams in the competition, next year it will be an even split.

With Kensington and Lucas demoted, next year it will be four from town and four from country.

Talking about an even split, there are two things about last weekend's match I will never ever forget.

The first one is the sight of left-arm pacer Leon Bent of Melbourne bowling with one fielder, standing beside the square-leg umpire, on the leg side, and with Melbourne on 260 for nine in their second innings, with Melbourne only a few runs on and with one wicket in hand, the second is the sight of Taylor, the West Indies fast bowler, running in from the boundary with only one slip and with six fielders on the boundary - one at long-off, one at cover, one at thirdman, one at backward square-leg, one at mid-wicket, and one at long-on.