Today Stabroek Sport takes a look at the batsmen who will by their exploits bring the crowds, schoolchildren and all, back to the cricket grounds in Guyana including the National Stadium at Providence when the KFC Cup bowls off tomorrow with the opening game between the hosts and dark horses, the Windward Islands.
The flashing blade of the multiple world record holder Brian Lara may be absent from this year’s tournament, but there are still plenty of stars around to make this preliminary round of the KFC Cup which bowls off in Guyana tomorrow a spectators’ treat.
The headline act for this stage, on which the top cricketers of the region will strut their stuff, will undoubdtedly be Jamaican skipper Chris Gayle.
`Gayle Force’ has distinguished himself on more than one occasions in the shorter form of the game and as recent as the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup competition in South Africa, apart from recording the only century of the tournament was also the leading West Indies batsman and the only one in the top five at the tournament’s conclusion.
Following closely behind Gayle is the talented Marlon Samuels.
A destructive batsman at best, Samuels reminds one of Carl Hooper as much for his classy batting and for his ability to hit sixes with effortless ease. Who can forget Samuels’s first One-Day hundred against India in November of 2002 when he smacked 108 not out off just 75 balls to help the West Indies win the deciding seventh game of the One-Day series.
The new star in the Trinidad team now that Lara has left for the ICL, is undoubtedly Dwayne Bravo, a cricketer whose enthusiasm is infectious.
Batting, bowling or fielding Bravo can inspire teammates in much the same way as Sir Learie Constantine (dare I mention him here) did for the twin-island republic many years ago.
A player who could well turn out to be the biggest crowd pleaser of the tournament is the Barbadian Dwayne Smith.
Smith announced himself on the international scene with a blazing hundred in 103 minutes off 93 balls with 15 fours and two sixes on debut to help the West Indies draw the third test against South Africa in January of 2004 at Cape Town.
Since then he has made a name for himself with his big hitting and sharp medium pace bowling which helps him snare wickets at regular intervals.
He will compete with Gayle and Samuels to see who can hit the biggest sixes in the competition.
It would be almost sacriligeous to name the biggest stars in the region and not mention the names Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
The West Indies captain Sarwan, was once ranked the number one batsman in the world in the limited overs form of the game.
Though possessing all the shots in the book, Sarwan has a calm disposition in the One-Day game. Two of Sarwan’s innings stand out.
The 2003 World Cup tournament in South Africa when he was injured in the match against Sri Lanka and returned to almost snatch an unlikely victory for the West Indies before they went under by six runs and the inaugural Twenty20 Stanford final when, though struggling for form, and with the match ebbing and flowing, he held his nerve and batted his side to a famous victory over Daren Ganga’s Trinidad side.
It is not a coincidence that Chanderpaul is the first West Indian to sign for the IPL Twenty20 competition. Like a chameleon, Chanderpaul can adjust his style of batting to suit any form of the game, test, One-Day or now Twenty20.
Mr. Dependable, had in the West Indies tour of England earlier this year, driven home the fact that he is clearly the West Indies number one batsman in the post Lara era.
He is the linchpin of any team that he plays for, a rock on which the foundation for mammoth scores can be built.
Chanderpaul is among, if not, one of the biggest stars around and has been a crowd pleaser ever since his debut match against England at Bourda.
Tomorrow, Stabroek Sport will look at the bowling stars who will be on show in the KFC Cup.