Tony Becca

The top four teams at the end of the round robin format will move into the semi-finals of the Super Cup cricket competition and with two rounds to go, with one match, the Lucas/Melbourne affair at Nelson Oval, under review, the battle for positions at the top and at the bottom is interesting.

After seven rounds, St. Elizabeth on 23, Manchester on 20, Melbourne on 17, and Kingston Cricket Club on 16 are leading the race for the semi-finals and the $500,000 first prize. And with defending champions St. Catherine Cricket Club, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and Westmoreland all locked on 13 each in the middle of the standings, with the bottom two teams relegated to the Senior Cup, the battle for eighth place is between Trelawny, who are on seven points, and Lucas and Kensington on six each.

Lest it be forgotten, starting next season, the plan for the development of cricket in the country is that there will be a semi-pro league, that the bottom two teams in the Super Cup at the end of this season will be relegated and that the remaining eight teams in the Super Cup will compete in the semi-pro league.

Time is running out

For Lucas and Kensington, therefore, for the home of batsmen like George Headley and Chris Gayle, for the home of a batsman like Lawrence Rowe and a spin bowler like Alfred Valentine, time is running out on them.

On the weekend, Trelawny, riding on the back of all-rounder Lorenzo Ingram with 101 and six for 65, jumped into eighth position when, despite an impressive seven for 72 and seven for 24 by Ransford Merchant, they came to town, as usual, and led Lucas on first innings; and over at Kensington Oval, the home team, after piling up a challenging 340, dropped first innings points to Melbourne in a close encounter.

In the next round, it will be Lucas versus Kingston CC and Kensington against Trelawny, then it will be Trelawny versus St. Catherine CC, Westmoreland against Lucas and Manchester versus Kensington. All three teams, Lucas and Kensington, as well as Trelawny, must be keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Back in 1990 when the all-island cricket tournament got under way after much discussion and debate, who would have thought that not only would a parish team, Manchester, have already won the title, not only that one of the traditional teams, Kensington, would have been relegated already, but also that two parish teams, St. Elizabeth and Manchester, would have been leading the competition at this stage of the contest and that two of the traditional clubs, Lucas and Kensington, would have been heading for relegation.

An interesting climax

In other words, when the season is over, the top eight teams in the country could be, to the delight of many Jamaicans, nicely distributed. It could be four from the Corporate Area and four from the rural parishes. It could be Melbourne, Kingston, St. Catherine CC and JDF, and it could be St. Elizabeth, Manchester, Westmoreland and Trelawny.

As the teams prepare for an interesting climax, however, there is one concern among the clubs, the parishes and the umpires. It is this: will they have enough balls to finish the competition?

The balls being used in the competition as ordered by the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) are terrible and everybodyis complaining about them.

The first complaint was that at $900 each, they were too expensive, they were more expensive than the clubs were accustomed to paying for balls and since then the price has been reduced to $500.

The present complaint, however, is tha the price has been reduced, they are still too expensive - and they are still too expensive because whereas the other balls lasted an innings and could be used during practice sessions or could be kept as replacement balls, these balls do not even last one innings.

According to the JCA, it is doing a survey to find out what are the complaints about the ball and if they are not really up to standard.

Waste of time

That, however, seems like a waste of time. In almost every match this season the umpires have had to be changing the balls.

In the Melbourne/Manchester match at Kirkvine where the grass is heavy, the ball was changed after 16 overs, and again after 43 overs; and in the match between Melbourne and Kensington at Kensington Park where the outfield is well grassed, the ball was changed after 44 overs and again after 71 overs.

The balls were not changed because they were lost, and they were not changed because the batsmen hit them so powerfully that they changed shape. The balls were changed because the stitching was destroyed, because they opened up at the seam and because they were torn down the sides.

Simply put, the balls being used in the Super Cup competition are an embarrassment.

In fact, they are such an embarrass-ment that there is no need to ask anyone his opinion of them.

They should be replaced as soon as possible.