First-Class Matches West Indies 1989/90 to 1998/99

158 West Indies in 1995/96 Things might have been different in the final had Dhanraj been able to recapture his form from the sides’ meeting a fortnight earlier. He won that match for Trinidad & Tobago with innings figures of 9-97 and 7-70, the former being just the fourth ‘nine-for’ in matches for the Shell Shield/Red Stripe Cup, and his match figures of 16-167 being a new competition record, beating Derick Parry’s 15- 101 for the Combined Islands against Jamaica in 1979/80. There was a record for a batsman too, with Shiv Chanderpaul starting the season with an innings of 303* for Guyana against Jamaica – the first (and still the only) triple-century in the Shell Shield/ Red Stripe competition and its successors. But like all the other leading players, Chanderpaul then had to depart for the World Cup, and the domestic competition was left to the second rank of players. Dhanraj, with 48 wickets at 16.64, was easily the competition’s most successful bowler; he had already beaten Courtney Walsh’s record of 36 wickets in a Shell Shield/Red Stripe season before taking a further eight wickets in the competition final. The Red Stripe runscorers were headed by Phil Simmons (T&T) with 641 runs at 64.10. The same two players also headed the lists for the season as a whole, Simmons with 722 runs at 55.33, and Dhanraj with 50 wickets at 19.28. Outside the domestic competition and the short tour by New Zealand, the only other first-class match was played by Lancashire in a pre-(English) season warm-up match in Jamaica in April. It had become common for English county sides to prepare for their new season in warmer climes, but it was unusual for their matches, even against fully representative sides, to be given first-class status. Lancashire’s match, against a side variously described as ‘Jamaica’ or ‘Jamaican Cricket Board XI’, ended in a draw, the highlights being a century for the England captain for Lancashire, and a maiden first-class century for future one-Test-wonder and Durham CCC stalwart Gareth Breese for the Jamaican side. RED STRIPE CUP 1995/96: FINAL TABLE P W L LWF DWF DLF ND Pts 1 Trinidad & Tobago 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 64 2 Leeward Islands 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 48 3 Jamaica 5 2 1 0 1 1 0 44 4 Windward Islands 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 32 5 Barbados 5 1 1 1 0 1 1 29 6 Guyana 5 0 3 0 1 0 1 12 Final: Leeward Islands beat Trinidad & Tobago by 73 runs.