da poker： Former England batsman and coach David Lloyd has described Devon Smithas a star of the future after the little lefthander guided the WestIndies Under-19 to a seven-wicket win over England Under-19 yesterday
Rodney Hinds31-Jul-2001Former England batsman and coach David Lloyd has described Devon Smithas a star of the future after the little lefthander guided the WestIndies Under-19 to a seven-wicket win over England Under-19 yesterday.It was third time lucky for Smith as the Windies cruised to victoryand a 2-1 win in the One-Day International series. The Grenadianshowed his class at Hove on Friday and at Chelmsford with scores of 75and 66, respectively. Yesterday he confirmed his class with a superb102 not out, an innings described by Lloyd as sheer class and quality.The entertaining innings saw the visitors reach their target of 183with 12 overs to spare. He required just 113 balls to hammer thehosts, and hit 12 fours and two huge sixes on another warm, sunkissedday.The young Windies looked like a team reborn after the disappointmentof their 13-run defeat the previous day. They were all over Englandlike a rash from the word go and should take heart for the forthcomingTests.Smith and partner Brenton Parchment started off like runaway trains,with Smith scoring 12 off the first over and by the sixth the pair hadtotalled an amazing 62. Once Parchment had gone, caught at slip for14, Smith and Barbadian Patrick Browne who along with Rayon Thomaswere the two new faces put on 77. Browne’s 21 was the perfect foilfor Smith’s awesome power.West Indies returned to their best form as they hustled England out in47.5 overs. Kenroy Peters and Rayon Thomas, who was playing his firstmatch in the One-Day trilogy, shared bowling honours.Peters, from St Vincent, caught the eye for the third match in a row,his 8.5 overs saw him concede a miserly 22 runs while taking threewickets.Thomas was quick and accurate throughout England’s knock. He wasrewarded with three wickets in his nine overs. He was more expensivethan Peters, conceding 41 runs, but he did the job the team required.It was only Kadeer Ali who offered any resistance as the visitorsturned the screws. At one stage England were 71 for six and a threefigure total looked in doubt. Ali made a bright 54, which included sixboundaries to give England hope.He found someone to stay with him in the shape of Chris Tremlett whoat 6 ft 7inches cuts an imposing figure at the crease. The pair put on81 for the seventh wicket, with Tremlett’s contribution 37.The Windies can now look forward to the three-match Test series, whichbegins at Grace Road, Leicester, next Monday.