FORTY-TWO years ago at Bourda Oval in Georgetown, Guyana, Jamaica played their final match of the 1966/67 Shell Shield four-day season.

Three days earlier, on March 22, 1967, Garfield Sobers had led Barbados to a 94-run victory over Jamaica at Kensington Oval to clinch the title.

Now Jamaica and Guyana were fighting for second place at Bourda.

The Lance Gibbs-led Guyana needed only a draw for second place, while the Jackie Hendriks-led Jamaicans sought an outright victory to clinch the runners-up spot.

With 34 Test matches and 151 Test wickets under his belt at the time, the right-arm off-spinner Gibbs was not being penetrative in that season and opted not to bowl.

Wicketkeeper Hendriks, meanwhile, had played 11 Test matches with 27 dismissals, and led the regional competition in dismissals.

Batting first, Guyana’s Basil Butcher cracked 105 before he was caught by Hendriks off the bowling of Teddy Griffith, and Winston English added 83 when Hendriks stumped him off Lester King.

Clive Lloyd contributed 79 and LLoyd Cornelius 60 as Guyana posted 450 all out.

Jamaica lost their first three wickets for 127 runs in their reply, until Renford Pinnock and Easton McMorris added 255 for the fourth wicket. Pinnock made a fine 153, while McMorris tallied a heroic 218 — his highest first-class score.

As the rest of the Jamaica batting collapsed, Lester King’s rearguard 58 tipped the visitors to take first innings at 538 all out, which to this day remains Jamaica’s highest total against Guyana in four-day regional competition.

Roy Fredericks (128 not out) and the future West Indies captain, Lloyd (57), paved the way for Guyana to declare at 300-5, making Hendriks’ charge for victory unlikely.

However, Jamaica plunged to 63-6 in their second innings, until McMorris (six not out) and Hendriks (five not out), forced the umpires to call off the match at the end with Jamaica on 69-6.

After 46 matches in regional first-class competition against Guyana, Jamaica have won 14, lost six and drawn 26, with two abandoned.

Narsingh Deonarine has proven to be Guyana’s key player so far this season with six wickets, and the only centurion (104 not out) on the side.

Wavell Hinds, with a batting average of 89.50, and bowlers Nikita Miller (14 wickets) and Odean Brown (11 wickets), are the top players for Jamaica so far.