Cricket: Welcome to Campbell's kingdom

By Richard Boock

Tours to New Zealand cannot come often enough for West Indies cricketer Sherwin Campbell.

The 30-year-old opening batsman scored a century in his first outing in New Zealand on the 1995 tour, and repeated the effort yesterday as he helped the tourists to recover from a slow start to post 330 for seven on the opening day of their match against Auckland.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the West Indies were in early trouble at four for two wickets and later at 34 for three, but Campbell's 108 not only dug them out of a hole, but also put them in the driving seat on Eden Park's Outer Oval.

Not selected for the tour of South Africa earlier this year, Campbell sprang to prominence in New Zealand five years ago, scoring 108 against a Ron Brierley XI and ending up averaging 69.50 in the test series.

He was re-selected to play against Australia this year and has not looked back since.

The West Indies had Darren Ganga caught at the wicket in the third over and Taupo hero Shivnarine Chanderpaul bowled after playing no shot in the fourth, and although Brian Lara briefly looked to be turning the innings around, he left in the 10th over after gloving an attempted hook shot to wicketkeeper Reece Young.

The tourists were not exactly clear of trouble when Ricardo Powell was snapped up in the slips when the total was 61, but Campbell and Jimmy Adams set about repairing the innings with a fifth-wicket parrtnership of 151.

Campbell was understandably cautious at the start, with his first 50 arriving in 197 minutes, but he began to play more shots as the day wore on, his second 50 taking just 89 more minutes, and including 12 fours and a six.

While Adams was also content to occupy the crease, his 65 coming in 210 minutes, wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs did not attempt to curb his natural instincts, smashing an unbeaten 52 off 77 balls, including six fours and three sixes as the West Indies finished the day strongly.

Campbell said afterwards that he was pleased to spend some time in the middle in the countdown to the test match, particularly as batting conditions were tricky early on.

"The ball was swinging and seaming a bit," he said, "so it was important to just put my head down and occupy the crease.

"It wasn't easy, but the key was to fight and to concentrate and to try to get into some sort of form."

The Auckland bowlers made the most of the early life in the pitch, left-armer Richard Morgan and Kyle Mills creating the initial problems for the tourists, while Kerry Walmsley turned in an excellent second spell, claiming the wickets of Adams and Campbell (both hooking) within the space of 11 balls.

Morgan ended with three for 59 off 19 overs after sending back Chanderpaul, Lara and Nehemiah Perry.

The West Indies decided to omit injured opening batsman Adrian Griffith and legspinner Dinanth Ramnarine from their squad of 13.

Manager Clive Lloyd confirmed that Griffith's hamstring was causing some concern.

He said: "We weren't going to risk him so close to the test."