Commonwealth Games: Viv's loss after the gains

Andrew Longmore sees Australia beat Antigua in an unlikely setting

AT SOME point yesterday afternoon, the enthusiasm of the Australian cricketers for the Commonwealth Games suffered a temporary blip. It can be safely assumed that visions of Curtly Ambrose, a muggy day and a soggy pitch did not disturb their initial dreams of gold. A burst of wailing from the muezzin, calling the local Islamic community to prayer, only added to the sense of foreboding as two old rivals sparred for superiority in the unlikely setting of the national electricity company's works pitch at Pantia on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

The sight of Steve Waugh spurred Ambrose into a frenzied windmill of action. The Australian one-day captain retreated on to his stumps and flicked the ball away for a single. Next over, striving for extra pace, Ambrose bowled two no-balls, the second slashed through the covers for four. It was like picking up a well-thumbed thriller. At the end of an explosive three hours of cricket - it resembled the game anyway - Waugh's Australians had overwhelmed Ambrose's Antiguans by seven wickets, victory over India now standing between Australia and a place in the semi-finals of the Commonwealth tournament.

No one is quite sure what cricket is doing in the Commonwealth Games, though there is an undeniably colonial logic to the choice. Only Jamaica, of the five non Test-playing countries in action yesterday, managed to top 100. In descending order, Antigua managed 99, Malaysia 88, Kenya 60 and Canada 45, 15 fewer than their total against Australia. Neither is there an overwhelming argument for excluding cricket, given a few decent pitches and less tropical conditions. Manchester have yet to decide on their programme for 2002, but cricket is under serious consideration, if the monsoon season abates.

If England had bothered to send a team, this tournament would be little different from the World Cup, to be held in England next spring. Perhaps that does as much to explain England's absence as the completion of the County Championship. The only other change is the fragmentation of the West Indian team into the separate islands of Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua, the last playing together as an island for the first time in a major tournament.

"We are men on a mission," Richie Richardson, the former West Indian captain, said. "Antigua want to become a cricketing force in its own right." Antigua, it seems, are tired of producing the cricketing backbone to the combined islands side which competes in the domestic competitions in the West Indies and wants to go it alone. The presence of Viv Richards, the technical director, Richardson and Ambrose was proof of the rich cricketing heritage of Antigua. The Antiguan side included seven internationals and two other first-class cricketers and would be a match for any side less well drilled than the Australians.

So what we had, laid out before a collection of travelling Australians, Malays and Indians, was a sporting curiosity, interspersed with glimpses of genuine craft. Had Antigua won the toss and put Australia in, with the pitch at its most moist and the humidity at its highest, the interest might have been sustained until well into the evening. But, once Waugh had called correctly and put the Antiguans in, the match was all but over. Antigua struggled to 25 for five, Damien Fleming twice taking two wickets in two balls, and reached 99 thanks mainly to Eldine Baptiste's rough handling of the young off- spinner, Gavin Robertson, and a cameo of calm strokeplay by Curtly himself. "Come on, big fella, you know the total," Richards urged from the boundary. The total was 50 below par, however hard Ambrose tried.

Having had their first game abandoned, Antigua are out of the tournament. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa jointly with Barbados lead the four groups. But, for Richards, the flagbearer for the Antiguan team in the opening ceremony, the Games has added an extraordinary and unexpected line to his sporting cv. "Carrying the flag for my country was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me," he said. "Walking round that stadium, in front of 100,000 people, I would have cut off limbs to be able to do that. In the athletes' village, you're rubbing shoulders with world record holders and meeting new people. It's been unforgettable."

Sitting down in the stands after the march past, Richards began chatting to a tall, young, Australian who exuded a certain charm and confidence. "I wasn't even sure who he was, but he was a lovely man." Viv, meet Kieren Perkins, swimmer, Olympic gold medallist, quadruple Commonwealth Gold medallist and holder of 11 world records.