Daren Powell ... claimed four wickets for 58 runs from 14 overs. - FILE
BRISBANE, Australia (CMC):
HANDICAPPED YET again by inconsistent bowling and unimaginative leadership, the West Indies compounded their woes with a puzzling selection policy, and a sub-standard effort in the field, as the Queensland Bulls broke away from the early restraints on the opening day of their tour match yesterday.
West Indies reached 13 without loss, replying to Queensland's first innings total of 323, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul's mood would have darkened like the increasingly overcast skies that halted play five overs early.
The West Indies captain and his teammates learnt that Wavell Hinds had sustained a fractured left little finger fielding earlier in the day, and has been ruled out of action until the second Test in Hobart in the middle of November.
In their only warm-up match before the first Test against Australia, beginning next Thursday at the Gabba, the visitors chose to rest three key fast bowlers - Corey Collymore, Jermaine Lawson, and Fidel Edwards - but would have hardly missed the trio if the Caribbean side had held on to the chances offered after a penetrative spell from Daren Powell had reduced the home team to 146 for six.
POWELL'S PERFORMANCE
Powell, one of only three of the originally selected players who chose to go on the tour of Sri Lanka three months ago, had put West Indies in control by mid-afternoon, after Queensland chose to bat.
Striding in with real purpose and maintaining a full length to batsmen more comfortable playing on the back foot early in the day, Powell bowled himself into contention for a spot in the final 11 of the reunited team to take on Ricky Ponting's men in less than a week's time, by claiming four wickets for 58 runs from 14 overs.
He could not replicate the performance however, in the latter half of the day because of what has been described as a slight hip injury which forced him to leave the field after tea.
In his absence, 21-year-old Ryan Le Loux, in just his second first-class match, top-scored for the Bulls with 63 before he was last out, caught and bowled pulling at Dwayne Bravo to give the all-rounder his third wicket.
Selected primarily for his role as a leg-spinner, Le Loux played the major role in the last three wickets adding 140 runs to the immense frustration of the Caribbean side.
LOWERED STANDARD
Discarded Test batsman Martin Love and limited-overs international specialist Andrew Symonds each contributed 55 in the top half of the order, but the West Indies really had only themselves to blame for letting Queensland off the hook.
Coming in the wake of a near flawless performance in the field by a second-rate regional side in Sri Lanka, the visitors lowered the standard of their out-cricket once again in putting down three catches, plus another off a no-ball.
Hinds' early error when Matthew Hayden swung Tino Best to backward square-leg in just the second over fortunately did not prove expensive, as the Test opener was bowled off the under-edge for a 'duck', pulling at Powell in the next over.
Best, whose first delivery of the day was a screaming beamer that Hayden just managed to evade before it sped to the boundary past bemused wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, saw Smith drop Maher's square-cut to backward-point, but it would not have counted as the erratic Barbadian - who conceded 83 runs off 17 overs - had overstepped the front crease.
He eventually snared his only wicket of the day when Chris Simpson gave Chris Gayle - at second slip - one of his three catches in the innings.
Gayle should have completed a fourth catch, but failed to hold on to a sharp chance offered by Le Loux off Bravo when the newcomer was just on six.
Brian Lara then put the seal on a bad day for the West Indies in the field, and magnified Best's anguish when he put down tail-ender Mitchell Johnson at first slip.
Johnson eventually drove Marlon Samuels to Ramnaresh Sarwan at short cover to depart for 23, ending a ninth-wicket partnership of 63 with Le Loux.
With Hinds definitely out of contention, Samuels now seems certain to play at the Gabba, where he will be required to fill a dual role, as middle-order batsman and part-time off-spinner.
That he was being prepared for the task became obvious as he bowled 26 overs unchanged from just before the lunch interval to deep into the final session of the day. He was never really collared by the Bulls' batsmen, conceding 79 runs in finishing with two wickets after Symonds, on completing his 50th half-century in first-class cricket, hoisted Samuels to Powell running in at long-on.
Bravo, who has been instructed to take on a greater responsibility with his medium-pacers, removed Maher for 31 to a head-high catch by Gayle at third slip, but then conceded four boundaries in a wayward over.
Love, who made his Test debut against West Indies at St. John's two years ago, brought up his half-century with a boundary off Powell, but the fast bowler had the last laugh, when the tall right-hander edged a catch to Lara at first slip just before lunch.
ADVANTAGE SLIPPED
Powell then removed the impressive-looking Shane Watson for 20 to another Gayle slip catch with the fourth delivery on the resumption, and when he bowled all-rounder James Hopes off the inside-edge, the Bulls looked ready to be put down at 126 for five.
Best's dismissal of Simpson in his first over replacing Powell, and Bravo's removal of Chris Hartley caught behind fuelled expectations of a full final session of batting for the visitors.
But as has happened so often during the decade of depressing decline, the advantage literally slipped through their fingers, although they would have had the opportunity to make amends with a formidable reply with play set to resume on Friday.
QUEENSLAND 1ST INNINGS
J. Maher c Gayle b Bravo 30
M. Hayden b Powell 0
M. Love c Lara b Powell 55
S. Watson c Gayle b Powell 20
A. Symonds c Powell b Samuels 55
J. Hopes b Powell 4
C. Simpson c Gayle b Best 14
C. Hartley c wkpr Ramdin b Bravo 12
R. Le Loux c and b Bravo 63
M. Johnson c Sarwan b Samuels 23
M. Kasprowicz not out 26
Extras (lb8, w5, nb8) 21
TOTAL (all out) 323
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-56, 3-117, 4-120, 5-126, 6-146, 7-183, 8-215, 9-278.
Bowling: Powell 14-3-58-4; Best 17-1-82-1 (nb7, w1); Bravo 19.4-3-87-3 (nb1, w4); Samuels 26-4-79-2; Sarwan 2-0-9-0.
WEST INDIES 1ST INNINGS
C. Gayle not out 3
D. Smith not out 8
Extras (w1, nb1) 2
TOTAL (without loss) 13
R. Sarwan, B. Lara,S. Chanderpaul, W. Hinds, M. Samuels, D. Bravo, +D.
Ramdin, T. Best, D. Powell to bat.
Bowling: Johnson 2-0-9-0; Kasprowicz 2-0-4-0 (nb1, w1).
