A blackwash looks a distinct possibility

By Ted Corbett

LONDON, JUNE 29. Soon after nets on Wednesday England told Ed Giddins that there was not going to be a place for him in the team for the second Test here against West Indies and that he could go home. Long before the end of the first day's play Giddins must have known that the decision was wrong. By tea West Indies was 169 for two and a blackwash looking a distinct possibility.

On Thursday morning we arrived at the ground to find perfect conditions for a swing bowler. It was here - even those of us with short term memory deficiency can remember - only 42 days ago that he took five for 15 against the admittedly lesser batsmen of Zimbabwe; but surely the insecurity that his figures may have fed into the West Indies' mind would have given him the right to a place. Sadly, the selectors decided they did not need to wait for a look at the conditions to see if they needed him.

This is, of course, the 100th Test at Lord's and it is tempting to write that in the last 120 years the selectors have learnt very little about how this game can be played. Alec Stewart won the toss and told the midfield compere that he would ``have a bowl'' to the relief of those England batsmen crouching at the back of the dressing room fearing he might throw them in against Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Even without Giddins - 20 Test wickets at 20 each to make the point even stronger - England had Darren Gough, Dominic Cork and the new boy Matthew Hoggard with claims to swing.

But after an hour Sherwin Cambell, with a free swing of the bat between first slip and cover point and the grafting Adrian Griffith had scored 51 off 16 overs. Hoggard bowled the 11th over which might have been the right time to introduce Giddins and his third ball seared past the edge of Campbell's bat at 86 miles an hour. He looks as if he might be a find but he had better beware of a match-winning performance or he might suffer the same fate as Cork, out of the side for 20 months, or poor Giddins.

Campbell and Griffith, a study in contrasting styles had 79 runs on the board for all Andrew Caddick and Craig White, the non- swingers, bowled with variations and skill in the second hour. Stewart tried five bowlers in 24 overs in a bid to find the right pace and technique to extract life from this bonny pitch.

One run after lunch Griffith set off for a second and was run out by a swift, straight throw from Caddick at fine leg but that only brought another brisk partnership from the shot- maker Wavell Hinds and Campbell who produced his first stroke down the vee - the classic route for an opening bat - nearly three hours from the start of his innings.

They had fifty in 70 minutes and as Campbell ground his way towards a century Hinds produced ten fours in an 87-ball fifty but at 162 Campbell got under a hook and Hoggard, steadied himself before taking a catch that few would have fancied on debut. England celebrated as if it was on the verge of victory but the sight of Brian Lara running down the steps at 162 may have concentrated their thoughts.

Only Yorkshiremen - there are four for the first time since 1980 - bowled from the pavilion end, including Michael Vaughan with his part-time off spin, a desperate move on a swinger's pitch.

As Lara played his elaborate defensive shots and Hinds drove through mid-wicket the sound of a hollow laugh could be heard by the discerning few. Not Giddins surely at home in Birmingham wondering if the true Lord's heroes like Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Richard Hadlee, Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes had seen the injustice done to him and marvelled at the cruelty of the elegant game.

West Indies 187 for five

LONDON, JUNE 29. The West Indies, from 162 for two, had slumped to 187 for five after tea on the first day of the second Test at Lord's on Thursday. The batsmen dismissed were Sherwin Campbell (82), Adrian Griffith (27), Wavell Hinds (59), Brian Lara (6) and skipper Jimmy Adams (1). Shivnarine Chanderpaul (7) and Ridley Jacobs (1) were at the crease. Darren Gough and Dominic Cork bagged two wickets each.

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