Cricket: West Indies crush bungling England: Atherton's bowlers concede 28 fours and six sixes as Haynes and Simmons help set records tumbling in third one-day international

West Indies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313-6

England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148-9

West Indies win by 165 runs

MODEST though some of the early opposition might have been, there was a definite purring note in England's engine a fortnight ago, since when they have managed to lurch from something resembling a finely tuned machine into a Heath Robinson contraption urgently in need of a replacement rubber band.

This was the 888th one-day international since the genre was launched in 1971 and if there has ever been a more palsied performance in any of them than England's here yesterday, then it is difficult to call one to mind.

On this picturesque little ground, it does not require too huge a blow to propel a cricket ball into the Caribbean sea at one end and the airport runway at the other, and while England were bowling yesterday it was a moot point as to whether the West Indies batsmen were more likely to sink a yacht or to shoot down a plane.

The West Indies' 313 was the highest they have ever made against England in 222 of these contests and the most runs conceded by England against anyone. The losing margin of 165 was England's biggest ever, eclipsing their 135-run defeat in Barbados in 1986.

For the first 10 overs the home team pottered quietly to 32 for 0, but in the last 30 it was total carnage. The final boundary tally was 28 fours and six sixes and England presumably only came out to bat because the rules said they had to.

For all the evidence that cricket does not have the hold on the West Indian populus that it once did, it scarcely seemed to apply here. Anyone wanting to buy a loaf of bread or cash a cheque here yesterday basically had to forget it. St Vincent itself was closed for the cricket and the official figure of 11,000 crammed into Arnos Vale did not include the 50 or so hanging from palm trees.

The place was in such a lather of excitement that there was even a live two-hour radio broadcast on the afternoon before the game devoted to the opening of a new stand. Live commentary on a game of dominoes might have been more riveting, but at least all the eulogies to the builders were not misplaced. The West Indies gave the new structure such a peppering it was a miracle it was still standing after its first day.

The two previous one-day internationals played here were won by the side batting first, which made England's decision to bowl all the more odd. It was never that easy to play strokes to begin with but, as the pitch then got slower and lower, chasing 300-plus was like tackling the Eiger armed with a ball of string and a toothpick.

A not uncommon sight yesterday was that of Mike Atherton in anguished conversation with his bowlers to the backcloth of another plane taking off. If the captain was not secretly wishing that one or two of his players were on board, he is indeed a man without an unkind thought and now faces a real test of his embryonic captaincy.

The platform for a massacre was laid by Desmond Haynes and Phil Simmons, whose opening stand of 145 in 32 overs was a record for any West Indian wicket in a one-day match against England, after which Brian Lara strolled in to cream 60 off 41 balls without breaking sweat.

Haynes was 17 short of what would have been his 17th one-day century in 238 appearances but for a spectacular boundary catch by Chris Lewis, although as Lewis had earlier let one go through his hands for six it was another example of how he yo- yos between the ordinary and out of the ordinary. However, the next time Lewis's bowling is anything like as good as ordinary Atherton may break open the champagne.

He ran in yesterday as though he had slipped both legs into the same trouser, although he was not alone on this occasion. The only consistency about the bowling was the way ball after ball was plopped on to a perfect length and width for violent treatment. Alan Igglesden's last six deliveries went for 4, 1, 4, 4, 4, 6.

By that time, Richie Richardson (who had swapped his maroon plantation farmer's hat for a regulation peak and was almost as unrecognisable as England were as an international attack) was in full cry and he sent the crowd delirious by carving 52 at two per ball.

Whether or not delirium had by then attacked the England captain, Atherton for some reason decided to send in Lewis to open the batting despite all the success that he and Alec Stewart have had out here. Lewis lasted 10 balls and two runs. Stewart then got an inside edge to the wicketkeeper and when Robin Smith was bowled in Curtly Ambrose's second over, the rest of it made listening to a new stand being opened on the radio seem breathlessly exciting.

'We have to fight back from this in Trinidad at the weekend,' Keith Fletcher, the England manager, said. 'We've played poorly, and everyone has to hold his hand up and say it wasn't good enough today.'

Graham Gooch has been re-appointed Essex captain for an eighth season but, while indicating that he will be playing on beyond 1994, intends to make it his last in the post.

SCOREBOARD FROM KINGSTOWN

(England won toss)

WEST INDIES

D L Haynes c Lewis b Tufnell. . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

(136 min, 95 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes)

P V Simmons c Hussain b Tufnell. . . . . . . . . . . .63

(124 min, 99 balls, 7 fours, 1 six)

B C Lara c Stewart b Fraser. . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

(50 min, 41 balls, 5 fours)

K L T Arthurton c Smith b Watkin. . . . . . . . . . . 28

(43 min, 25 balls, 1 six)

*R B Richardson not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

(34 min, 26 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes)

J C Adams c Smith b Watkin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

(7 min, 4 balls, 1 four)

R A Harper run out (Lewis). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

(13 min, 12 balls, 1 four)

A C Cummins not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

(4 min, 0 balls)

Extras (lb4 w2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Total (for 6, 211 min, 50 overs). . . . . . . . . . .313

Fall: 1-145 (Simmons), 2-156 (Haynes), 3-230 (Lara), 4-242 (Arthurton), 5-256 (Adams), 6-300 (Harper).

Did not bat: W K M Benjamin, C E L Ambrose, K C G Benjamin.

Bowling: Igglesden 10-1-65-0 (6-1-17-0, 2-0- 19-0, 2-0-29-0); Watkin 9-0-61-2 (4-0-19-0, 5-0- 42-2); Lewis 9-0-67-0 (2nb) (6-0-29-0, 1-0-14-0, 1-0-5-0, 1-0-19-0); Fraser 10-1-46-1 (1w) (4-0-19- 0, 4-1-19-0, 2-0-8-1); Hick 3-0-18-0 (1w); Tufnell 9-0-52-2 (one spell each).

Progress: 50: 52 min, 80 balls. 100: 93 min, 133 balls. 150: 130 min, 193 balls. 200: 158 min, 230 balls. 250: 189 min, 272 balls. 300: 205 min, 296 balls. Haynes' 50: 91 min, 64 balls, 6 fours, 1 six. Simmons' 50: 100 min, 73 balls, 6 fours, 1 six. Lara's 50: 39 min, 31 balls, 5 fours. Richardson's 50: 33 min, 24 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes.

ENGLAND

C C Lewis lbw b Cummins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

(12 min, 10 balls)

A J Stewart c Adams b K Benjamin. . . . . . . . . . . . .13

(35 min, 20 balls, 1 four)

R A Smith b Ambrose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

(46 min, 35 balls, 3 fours)

G A Hick c Cummins b Harper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

(95 min, 85 balls, 2 fours)

M P Maynard c Simmons b Cummins. . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

(29 min, 19 balls, 1 four)

N Hussain c and b Harper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

(34 min, 28 balls)

* M A Atherton not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

(54 min, 41 balls, 1 four)

S L Watkin c Lara b Arthurton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

(18 min, 22 balls)

A P Igglesden c Ambrose b Lara. . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

(21 min, 28 balls, 2 fours)

A R C Fraser st Adams b Lara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

(5 min, 8 balls)

P C R Tufnell not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0

(2 min, 4 balls)

Extras (b1 lb12 w6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Total (for 9, 181 min, 50 overs). . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Fall: 1-7 (Lewis), 2-24 (Stewart), 3-41 (Smith), 4-64 (Maynard), 5-98 (Hussain), 6-105 (Hick), 7-119 (Watkin), 8-144 (Igglesden), 9-148 (Fraser).

Bowling: K C G Benjamin 6-0-21-1 (one spell); Cummins 8-1-22-2 (2w) (4-0-10-1, 4-1-12-1); W K M Benjamin 5-1-15-0; Ambrose 6-2-13-1 (2w); Simmons 7-1-18-0 (2w); Harper 10-0-29-2; Arthurton 6-1-12-1; Lara 2-0-5-2 (one spell each).

Progress: 50: 71 min, 105 balls. 100: 128 min, 192 balls.

Umpires: L H Barker and G A Johnson.

West Indies won by 165 runs.

Match referee: S M Gavaskar.

Man of the match: D L Haynes.

Adjudicator: W W Davis.

(Photograph omitted)