Tony Becca

THE SUPER Cup cricket competition ended its third round last weekend and once again it was, for many reasons, two days of disappointing action.

Lucas, who made 102 in the first round, despite Christopher Gayle's contribution of 56 and 78 for seven in the second round, appear to be totally out of their depth. They were dismissed for 87 at home, last week, after a good start of 34 without loss. And after Manchester had confidently declared at 103 for one on the second day, Trelawny, 68 and 100 in the second round - and who obviously are out of their depth, were routed for 97.Based on the results, it was a bowler's weekend with the likes of spinner Wayne Simpson of St. Elizabeth preening himself with 11 wickets (five for 25 and six for 98) versus Lucas at Nelson Oval, Anshuman Kentish of Lucas picking up five for 68 in the same match and Melbourne's left-arm pacer Leon Bent collecting five for 34, including a hat-trick, versus Kingston, at Sabina Park.

Although not one batsman scored a century, there was at least one good innings during the round and it came from the bat of Melbourne's captain, Carlton Baugh, Jr.

Wonderful innings

In the previous round, with Melbourne under pressure from the Jamaica Defence Force, Baugh, known for his big hitting and sometimes careless batting, settled in and played a wonderful innings of 118 to carry his team to first innings lead. Last weekend, with his team chasing 197 for first innings lead and in trouble when he went to bat at number six and in trouble again at 180 for nine, he again played a masterly innings before, after winning the lead for his team, he opened up and was on 92 not out when the innings closed at 244.

But for one rash and careless stroke when he was in the 30s - an expansive drive against fast bowler Jowayne Robinson, which peeled off the outside edge, flew high and landed just short of the fielder at backward point, it was a lovely innings and following on his previous week's performance, an innings which showed that he is developing nicely as a batsman.

There was one other reason why Baugh, the diminutive wicketkeeper/ batsman, deserved a round of applause for his batting, on Sunday.

Nasty and dangerous

The Sabina Park pitch at the northern end was nasty and dangerous. So much so that the ball flew off a good length and that one batsman, Kingston's Chadwick Walton, was hit on the helmet.

All the fast bowlers, who bowled from the south, looked deadly, and most of the wickets fell at the northern end; most of them were caught behind the wicket by the slips or the wicketkeeper, and it was a credit to Baugh that he stood up, selected his strokes perfectly, and batted undefeated to the end.

Talking about the Sabina Park pitch; it was also disappointing that at the headquarters of the country's cricket, at a ground where so much money was spent on renovation just recently, at a ground which boasts two expensive electronic scoreboards, most of the few spectators at the ground went through the two days not knowing what the score was at any time during play.

Excuse for scoreboard

The reason for that was that the excuse for a scoreboard - a little piece of board painted in black, was placed in an obscure corner close to the members' pavilion and the only persons who could see it were the players, probably, and the fans downstairs the clubhouse.

The fact that the new and expensive cricket stadium in Trelawny is out of bounds for the Trelawny cricket team playing in the country's top cricket competition, the fact that Sabina Park is without a scoreboard for the Super Cup cricket competition - the island's top cricket competition, underlines, to those who love cricket, the fact that cricket is now really in a sorry state in this country.

To those who still love cricket, the game - based on the spectator support, based on the financial support and based on the general interest in the development of the game - is fast becoming a second-class sport in this country.