Sebastien gives Windwards an early edge
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Liam Sebastien marked his return from injury with tidy off-spin bowling that gave Windward Islands a slight edge over Barbados in the WICB Regional first-class championship yesterday.
The Windwards captain ended with three wickets for 50 runs from 28 overs, as Barbados, sent in to bat, were kept on a tight leash, and limped to 201 for four in their first innings at the close on the opening day of their fifth round match.
Sebastien had missed his side’s previous match against Trinidad & Tobago with a leg injury, but he gave firm evidence that the one-week break in the tournament, as well as his intimate knowledge of the opposition was beneficial to him.
The stocky Sebastien has played the last three seasons of club matches in the island for reigning champions University of the West Indies, yet most of the Barbadian top-order batsmen failed to conquer him, and there was an unaccustomed lack of urgency about their rate of scoring on a hard, true Kensington Oval pitch under sunny skies.
Opener Kraigg Brathwaite led the way with a typically painstaking 57, Kevin Stoute was not out on 45, Jonathan Carter, playing his first match of the season, made 33, Jason Haynes, also playing his first match of the season, got 31, and stand-in captain Shamarh Brooks was not out on 21.
Windwards made three changes to their line-up for the match, with Sebastien, newcomer Atticus Browne, and Kevin James, replacing Johnson Charles, Donwell Hector, and Keron Cottoy.
Barbados suffered a major blow, when their regular captain Ryan Hinds was ruled out of the match because of illness.
Experienced opener Dale Richards, all-rounder Roston Chase, and leg-spinner Ryan Layne are the other three players that joined him on the sidelines from the side which contested the previous match against Guyana.
Brooks, a former Young Barbados and Young West Indies captain, as well as captain of the West Indies High Performance Centre side that visited Canada last year, is leading the home team, which also includes fast bowler Tino Best, who was dropped against Guyana.
