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Mar 21, 2009 Sports
By Edison Jefford
Just when pundits had started to renege on previous decisions to bet against West Indies, a decision to take the ‘lights’ on the presumption that the regional team was ahead on Duckworth/Lewis unfortunately backfired.
Standing umpires, Clyde Duncan and Alim Dar offered Nikita Miller and Darren Sammy the ‘lights’, which they eventually took, after it became obvious that darkness had began to set in at the Guyana National Stadium yesterday.
The two batsmen took the offer on the assumption and information that their team was in the lead on the Duckworth/Lewis System, only to find out minutes later that they were, in essence, one run behind and therefore lost. The misinformation and administrative blunder gave England a 1–0 lead in the five game series, which continues tomorrow at the same venue. The remainder of the series will determine the proportions of the oversight.
West Indies’ only reprieve is that the Duckworth/Lewis System was not as fatal as when it decided the recent ODI Series in New Zealand. Captain Chris Gayle made it clear that it was an error based on wrong information.
“It was a miscalculation. We were looking at the wrong column. I want to apologise for that. It was disappointing. We have to put this behind us,” Gayle said at a post–match press conference yesterday at the Stadium.
Gayle believed that the wicket of Denesh Ramdin changed the equation on the system; he said that the equation after the wicket was not properly communicated but no one is to be blamed because they are in unison as a team.
Ramdin was dismissed approximately two minutes before the ‘lights’ were offered and the West Indies captain attempted to clarify why the ‘lights’ were not given before the fall of Ramdin’s wicket since it was dark.
“The last wicket changed the equation. It was really, really disappointing. It should not have gone that way. After the last wicket fell you are going to call off the game?” he asked sarcastically in reference to the umpires’ decision.
Asked what his personal opinion of the Duckworth/Lewis system is, Gayle said that they have to live with it because it has been in existence for a long time. He opined that what he says about the system would not change it.
On the other hand, England’s captain, Andrew Strauss was unequivocal when he said that mistakes such as the one yesterday should not occur at the highest level of professional sport and as such their win is vindicated.
“We have been working hard for the past few weeks. We desperately needed a win, you don’t expect to win in that fashion but I will take a win,” Strauss said, following Gayle’s remarks at the post–match press briefing.
Strauss admitted that it was indeed dark but play was still possible. The English skipper made it clear that nothing should be taken away from their win given the experience of the West Indies team in world cricket.
“It was dark but not impossible to see the ball but it was dark. It is easy to make mistakes. They have been around for a long time; they should know that mistakes at this level are very costly,” he explicitly said yesterday.
While Miller and Sammy walked back to the players’ pavilion as darkness loomed at the Stadium, brief celebrations were sparked more so after Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s heroics but those were halted after news of the defeat circulated.
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