Styris' debut century stymies Hooper

Pedro Collins removed the dangerous Nathan Astle with the first ball of the second over but the West Indies then encountered a pugnacious opponent in Scott Styris as New Zealand built a useful first-innings total of 373 all out on the second day of the Second Test here.

Left-armer Collins, who brought the West Indies back to parity with the wickets of opener Mark Richardson for 95 and nightwatchman Daniel Vettori in the last quarter-hour of the first day, claimed Astle lbw for 69 as he padded out an inswinger.

But Styris, a strongly built, 27-year-old all-rounder playing in his first Test, came in at No 8 and batted as well as anyone, sharing partnerships of 48 with Craig McMillan and 56 with wicket-keeper Robbie Hart. He was eventually bowled by Adam Sanford for a marvellous 107.

Styris' speciality has been the one-day game but his improved batting, that brought him scores of 85 and 63 not out in the earlier one-day internationals, and his stiff medium-pace bowling earned him his place for the Test ahead of fast bowler Daryl Tuffey.

McMillan has been out of touch on tour and spent an uncertain hour and a quarter over 14 before he fell to a rare attacking stroke, a cut off fast bowler Cameron Cuffy that flew from the top-edge for Brian Lara to snare a spectacular catch at first slip.

New Zealand's resistance continued as Styris and Hart batted without bother on an ideal pitch that should have made West Indies captain Carl Hooper rue his mystifying decision to bowl first.

They were together for an hour and a half before the West Indies finally separated them, Hart gloving an intended sweep from Hooper to leg-slip after a solid 20.

The match is Grenada's first Test and should have been a grand occasion, worthy of celebratory fireworks, but it has proved something of a damp squib. The three-year-old National Stadium was built on the instigation of the cricket-mad prime minister Keith Mitchell, a former Grenada captain, at a cost of $20 million.

But it has had not much more than quarter of its capacity of 15,000 spectators for the first two days. It is a sharp contrast to the crowds that have packed the ground for each of its five one-day internationals. The meagre attendances are a further worry for the West Indies Cricket Board that last month announced losses of $15m over the previous two years.

The First Test in Barbados, always considered the most cricket-conscious territory in the West Indies, was similarly shunned with an average of only 2,500 turning out for the four days to watch the West Indies' defeat by 204 runs.

There has been huge local interest in the football World Cup in the Caribbean where every match of which was televised live, diverting attention away from the traditionally unattractive Kiwis.

The staging of this mini-series at the end of a prolonged season that featured five Tests and three one-day internationals against India is another reason for the vast empty spaces. Crowds were appreciably larger for the Indians.

Yet it could be an early indication that the one-day game is finally supplanting Test cricket in the consciousness of the West Indian follower, as it has long done in India and Pakistan.