Tony Becca

IN THE middle of last year, Sabina Park came under heavy fire from West Indies captain Brian Lara.

After three drawn Test matches, the Digicel series against India came to Sabina Park for the fourth, final and decisive match. The West Indies lost it inside three days and, according to the great batsman, to some a genius of a batsman, the pitch was a disgrace and unworthy of a Test match.

According to Lara, it was a pitch made for spin bowlers.

When it is remembered that eight years before that - in 1998 - the first Test against England was abandoned after a few overs due to a bad pitch; that in 1968, 30 years before that, the pitch, which looked like a jigsaw puzzle, was condemned by everyone, it is not surprising that in some places, in the opinion of some, the Sabina Park pitch is considered a bad pitch - and especially so for batsmen.

There was a time, however, when Sabina Park was the talk of the cricketing world - a time when it glistened in the morning's sun and was rated the fastest pitch anywhere, but definitely so in the Caribbean.

A good, hard pitch

In those days, the pitch, hard and fast and true, was also a batsman's friend. In fact, it was, to many a batsman, a paradise for batting.

In 1930, for example, in the longest Test match of all time, England scored 849. In 1955, Australia scored 758 for eight declared. In 1958, the West Indies scored 790 for three declared against Pakistan. Also, with Andy Sandham scoring 325 in the first match and Gary Sobers 365 not out in the third, there have been two individual world records set at Sabina Park.

On top of that, George Headley's 223 against England in 1930 and his 270 against England were memorable performances while Lawrence Rowe's 214 and 100 not out versus New Zealand in 1972 remains the highest score on debut in a Test match.

There was also that day, against Pakistan in 1958, when the West Indies, going from 147 for one to 504 for one, went through an entire day without losing a wicket.

That was the day when Conrad Hunte - 260 run out - and Sobers, thrilled the fans with some exciting batting.

Batting performances

And talking about Sobers, there was one innings he played at Sabina Park that will never, ever be forgotten by those who saw it.

On the pitch that looked like a jigsaw puzzle, after the West Indies had been forced to follow on, and after Seymour Nurse had stroked the ball around with ease, Sobers walked out to bat and proceeded to play one of the great innings in cricket - a majestic performance in which he scored 113 runs.

As we remember Sabina Park and its kindness to batsmen, there are many other great batting performances that flash across the mind's eye, and they include, from the West Indies, Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott in their glory against India in 1953, Rohan Kanhai's gem of 158 in 1971 when the West Indies were forced to follow on against India and their trio of spin bowlers and also Lara's masterpiece of 213 versus Australia in 1999.

Lest it be forgotten, there were also some outstanding bowling performances. Especially so by seam bowlers and by fast bowlers and none more so than Trevor Bailey's seven-wicket haul in 1954, Wes Hall's seven-wicket blast against England in 1960 and, although he did not take a lot of wickets, Michael Holding's skill and pace against India's Sunil Gavaskar in 1983.