Borrowing a phrase from a current popular melody: "Oops...they did it again."
The USA performed creditably in their initial encounter with a first-class team at the Red Stripe Cup, Jamaica--only to lose by a country mile against their old nemesis, their North American neighbors, Canada. As their detractors were about to write the USA team off, they rose to the occasion--and defeated Barbados, one of the strongest sides in the Red Stripe Cup with five internationals who had represented the West Indies, for its first official first-class cricket victory against a major-country team (the England victories, though impressive, were "unofficial".) But the celebrations were premature--the USA team finished their Red Stripe foray by their worst loss ever in the Red Stripe, against a struggling Trinidad and Tobago team which would not even make it to the Red Stripe semi-finals.
Neither the successes nor the abject failures should have come as too much of a surprise to those who have been tracking the mercurial fortunes of the USA team in the new millenium. USA's unexpectedly strong showing in their first-ever tour of a major Test country (England), earlier in the year ( see USA's England Tour 2000) was followed by a disappointing Americas Cup (see USA at the Americas Cup ). The win over Barbados may have silenced the nay-sayers, but only for a while. Their successes are surely no fluke-- when they are up to it, the USA can stand up against the best, and even (on occasion) defeat them. But their performance, especially in batting, is very moody, and brittle-- it can lose consistency and courage, and disintegrate against the mildest of threats, for no apparent reason (at least in cricketing terms).
The magnitude of the victory over Barbados can be measured by a single yardstick--no other international team has ever beaten a West Indian side in the Red Stripe competition. The USA was the first team to do so--and it is hoped, it will not be the last.
But first, a look at the two previous matches that led to the USA team's brief day in the balmy Caribbean sun.
In the Jamaica-USA match, Jamaica set the ball rolling with an effortless 264 for 4 in their fifty
overs, with scores from Marlon Samuels (59*), Keith Hibbert (55), Wavell Hinds (46), Brendon Parchment (42) and a swashbuckling 18-ball 37 from Franklyn Rose.
But the United States made a creditable start and were 110 for 1 when Williams was brought into the attack at the start of the 33rd over. The West Indian one-day seamer took 5/12 from nine overs as he cut a swathe through the American middle order of Khan, Texeira, Reid and captain Raymond Denny, the northern visitors struggling onwards to finish their fifty overs on 157 for 7. Dave Wallace was top score for the US with 44.
Meanwhile, the Canadians were having their own problems with Barbados. They were able to score only 138 in 48.2 overs, half of their total (excluding extras) being contributed by Muneeb Diwan (61). Hendy Bryan (3/34) was the most successful of the Barbados bowlers. The loss of Philo Wallace without a run on the board was but a temporary setback for Barbados, Sherwin Campbell (33) and Floyd Reifer (69 from 72 balls) setting the pace as they cruised to an easy win by seven wickets.
These results would have suggested an even match between Canada and the USA for North American Honours, reflecting an international rivalry that has been going on since 1844. Instead, batting first at
Melbourne Park, the Americans were dismissed for 81 in 29.3 overs, with only Richard Staple (36*) scoring more than seven. The fact that one-quarter of USA's total came from extras (20, including 16 wides) was testimony to the fact that it was not Canadian bowling as much as USA's batting failure that made the difference in the game. Canada lost four wickets and took just 21.3 overs to complete the win... just in time as it turned out to be a heavy rain shower. Canadian captain Joseph Harris (32) and Muneeb Diwan (21) were the main run-scorers.
Just when it looked as if the United States would come away from this year's Red Stripe Bowl empty-handed, came the biggest upset of the competition at the Kensington Ground, Kingston.
Barbados had already defeated Canada by seven wickets, and Canada had defeated the USA by six wickets the following day (see above). So, playing the USA must have seemed like a yawn to the Barbadians.
Sent into bat after USA won the toss, Courtney Browne was captain of a team that contained
four other West Indian representatives: Philo Wallace, Floyd Reifer, Adrian Griffith and Hendy Bryan. But this stellar Barbadian line-up lasted only 39 overs before being dismissed for 128. All six American bowlers took wickets, but the major damage was wrought by off-spinner Rudy Narine (4/35 from 10 overs).
No doubt heartened by their bowling success, the USA seemed to have stiffened its batting backbone. For once, the USA middle order stood firm after its openers had been uncharacteristically disposed of. Indeed, it was the middle-order partnership of Richard Staple (31) and Amjad Khan (36) which set up the win for the Americans. With the full fifty overs at their disposal to make 129, captain Raymond Denny scored the winning runs with eight wickets down and six balls to spare.
Meanwhile Canada was defeated by Trinidad & Tobago-- Canada scored 149 (47.4 overs), but Trinidad & Tobago managed 151/5 in 46 overs, for an easy five-wicket victory. In point terms, the USA and Canada were even, with a victory each; but Canada's win came against the USA, while the USA defeated Barbados.
In their finale against Trinidad and Tobago, the USA team proved that it is as capable of sinking to the lowest depths as scaling the greatest heights. Batting first, USA were without the services ofDave Wallace, the opener who had been their most reliable batsman in the Americas Cup and the Red Stripe. He was replaced in the opening spot by Texeira, a veteran who had been overlooked for both the England tour and the America's Cup, and the batting order was reshuffled somewhat, for no clear reason. The result was a blow-out, with only A. Khan and Aijaz Ali reaching double figures, and the USA ending up at 62 in 35.2 overs--its worst batting performance ever at the Red Stripe tournament. Trinidad and Tobago took just 5 overs to overhaul the USA total for the loss of a single wicket, in what must have been a Port-of-Spain carnival atmosphere.
The Canadians ended their Red Stripe tour more creditably, taking Jamaica out at 226 runs, and claiming the wicket of West Indies captain Jimmy Adams for 25. In fact only the Jamaican opening pair (Parchment 52, Hibbert 93*) scored in double figures, other than skipper Adams-- the remaining 8 Jamaican batsmen scored only 25 runs between them. This was largely due to a superb bit of bowling by Canada's D. Joseph who took the last six Jamaican wickets for only 39 runs in 10 overs--his scalps included such Caribbean stars as Nehemiah Perry, and Franklyn Rose. Unfortunately, Canada found the Jamaican innings to much to surmount, and although they reached triple figures for the loss of 4 wickets thanks to captain Harris (31), the reliable Muneeb Diwan (21) and veteran Pershad (18), the Canadian tail disintegrated as the last 5 wickets went down for only 20 runs.
So, how do the Canadians and the USA compare? Obviously, the USA fared better against Barbados--a two-wicket win, versus a seven-wicket defeat. Against Jamaica, the honours are more or less even; Jamaica scored more runs against the USA, but the USA also batted somewhat better than Canada. Against Trinidad & Tobago, definitely the Canadians had the better performance, losing by 5 wickets while the USA lost by nine. One would have to conclude that Canada and the USA are about equal against other international opponents--but the Canadians seem to win all head-to-head confrontations!
Perhaps we can leave the last word to Robert Clements, a correspondent from Down Under. In an e-mail to the USA Coordinator of CRICINFO, he writes: " Whatever the problems of selection might be, I hope the USA cricketers & their supporters are celebrating this result mightily....Pity we can't get the Australian Cricket Board to open its one day championship to outside teams like the WIndies, England, SAfrica & even NZ does.... All the best, Robert Clements ".
To which we say. amen and bring along those wide-open championships...let us see what aspiring countries like the USA, Canada, Bermuda or even Nepal can do.
