Date-stamped : 21 May95 - 22:25 Tour Match: Somerset v West Indies England, 19, 20, 21 May 1995 ====> Day 1 Hooper has Somerset on the hop - Scyld Berry First day of three: West Indians398-5 v Somerset SOMERSET are, say ads around the county, "the team to watch" and yesterday a feast of sunshine, cider and sixes made for a daz- zling exhibition. The only problem for home supporters was that it was the West Indians who were batting, and made watchable by some frightful bowling. Carl Hooper followed his 173 as an opening batsman at Arundel with 176, but there can be no comparison between the quality of the respective attacks. The Duchess of Norfolk`s attack consisted of real bowlers. Richie Richardson chose to bat on a green surface precisely be- cause it simulated first Test conditions at Headingley, even if the bowling did not. Valiant attempts at medium-pace have never cowered West Indian shot-makers into submission. After an hour on this greentop, in the absence of Andy Caddick and Andre van Troost, Somerset had to give the newish ball to Mushtaq Ahmed, whose three long hops in his first over were well and truly Hoopered. During his 179 balls Hooper was never in trouble. He hit seven sixes, mainly with his majestic straightish off-drive, but the most mocking was when he mowed a Mushtaq legbreak from outside offstump over mid-wicket. Hooper is now reckoned to have booked his place as an opener in the Tests, with Sherwin Campbell for a partner, as well as in the one-dayers. It was Michael Holding`s suggestion that Hooper should use his decade of English experience to open and to fulfil that monumental talent. During their stand of 242 from 52 overs Campbell revealed himself as an `inside-outer`, scoring all but one of his 16 boundaries on the offside. This proclivity was his strength in hitting some brilliant square drives, and his weakness in being dropped at slip when 48 off Harvey Trump and later caught at deep gulley. Jimmy Adams, brought in when Brian Lara reported a slight groin strain, kept the tourists rattling along. By the close Somerset were as grateful for the loss of the first 45 minutes as the West Indians were to them for the rehabilitation of their batting. ====> Day 2, 20 May 95 Tourists step up a gear as Walsh displays old fire - Scyld Berry 2nd day of three: West Indians 449-8 (dec) v Somerset 301-9 ROADSIGNS outside Taunton proclaim the local priorities: `Market` comes top of the list, above the one-day internationals, at least in its opening phase, wanted for nothing as a dramatic spectacle. It was a matinee performance starting at noon, to the peal of St James`s bells, and made for compulsive viewing. When the West In- dians began to bowl after their declaration, only 75 minutes remained until lunch. But then Ionesco`s plays are short. The plot centred on whether the tourists were going to shake off their languor and step up a gear after their Australian defeats and slow tour start. They did so thanks largely to Courtney Walsh, who knew the right length; reports of the West Indian dem- ise are not to be exaggerated so long as he is competing. Curtly Ambrose, who has been Achilles in his tent, without quite the same extrovert cheeriness towards visitors, matched him in vigour but not effect. He has been rolling his arm over, economi- cal without endangering. Not yesterday: during his two spells he sometimes needed the airbrakes not to end on the batsman`s toes, but he was not rhythmical and so over-stretched that he frequent- ly no-balled. A crisp wind blew from leg to off as Ambrose ran in from the new pavilion end (it later blew down the wicket, which may have contributed to the no-balling). Patois shouts to `Ambi` punctured the sunny chill, as in- comprehensible as the auction calls in the market beyond. Ambrose`s first ball made Mark Lathwell dive for his bolt-hole, and after pitching swung lavishly with the wind to make Courtney Browne stretch for it. The Barbados captain finished with four dismissals, as did Walsh. Ambrose and Walsh, with more then 500 Test wickets between them, over-bowled, but did what they do best against Lathwell and Marcus Trescothick, aiming to extend their England careers. Wicket-taking balls rained down. Batsmen present and to come checked they had both thighpads on. The ball struck Lathwell`s bat in unsweet places - he still doesn`t move his feet. Trescoth- ick was beaten past his outside edge, twice in three balls from Ambrose, but he can become England`s No 4. Peter Bowler may not be on Ambrose`s Christmas card list Three of the best slips, Jimmy Adams dynamic at short-leg, Chan- derpaul a fine gulley, Keith Arthurton nowadays almost a special- ist cover. Then Walsh moved Arthurton to short-leg and Lathwell suspected a bouncer, but the next ball yorked and cartwheeled his middle stump. Peter Bowler may not be on Ambrose`s Christmas card list. Here and in his second spell Ambrose pounded him with shortish balls - not bouncers, around shoulder-height, aimed to go through your sternum if you don`t get out of the way. Bowler, a puller for being brought up in Australia, swung Ambrose for six. He carefully avoided the ensuing glare, and certainly did not give the bowler a Steve Waugh retort. The bouncer next ball screamed past at full throttle; Lara himself would have been late on it. In his second spell, after lunch, Ambrose delivered eight no- balls in three overs, which at two runs a time helped to make them cost 34 runs. Again it was either short ball or yorker, but there was never any question about his renewed commitment, even animation, just his rhythm. With extras contributing so handsomely, and Bowler dogged yet venturesome, Somerset came back into the game. Bowler and Richard Harden were rewarded with spells from Rajendra Dhanraj, the leg- spinner, and Carl Hooper, while Walsh could not bowl for almost two hours because of the shoulder damaged by a spectator at Sabi- na Park in the Kingston Test. The West Indian spinners were little more suited to the springy pitch than Somerset`s had been. The tourists had batted on in the morning until Jimmy Adams was caught at short fine-leg sweeping. Andy Hayhurst dared to bounce Ambrose, and was spoken to by Ken Palmer, no doubt warning the bowler about intimidation - for his own sake, not the batsman`s. So all the main West Indian batsmen have made some runs before the internationals, though Richie Richardson only at Arundel in the friendly opener. But the extraordinary fact is that West In- dies have not won an international against England here since 1984. Both in 1988 and 1991 England won 3-0. This time, England have a sensibly chosen squad and should win again, though not by the same margin, unless conditions unduly favour. Ray Illingworth`s gut preference for northern bowlers, and for batsmen taken mainly from the north and the truer pitches of the south, does have historical justification. England`s hardened match-winners used to spring from those sources, and more might do so again, altered though the environ- ments may be. ====> Day 3, 21 May 95 Headache for Roberts as soft beds cause a pain - Scyld Berry Somerset (301-9 dec & 159-2) with the West Indians (449-8 dec & 176-3 dec) SOFTNESS on the county circuit has been cited as the reason for England`s lack of Test success. Now the West Indians are holding it responsible for their far from formidable form in their two drawn county games. The softness, however, has lain in their hotel beds. Kenny Benja- min could not bowl yesterday because of a stiff back - if he had been fit, the declaration might have been rather more generous than 325 from 43 overs - and Curtly Ambrose is one of the leading sufferers among the nine tourists thus afflicted. So said the West Indian coach, Andy Roberts. Normally the foxy old fast bowler pays attention to detail, but in assessing the qualities of the modern British hotel he forgot to mention the uninteresting food, cramped rooms and rip-off prices as the other characteristics. Roberts, conceding that Ambrose was undergoing "a loss of rhythm", could offer no explanation beyond a soft bed. "But he`s running in again and that`s the main thing. It`ll come right." For certain Ambrose`s costliness here was not the result of tired half-volleys witheringly driven. He was keen all right, and ran in knees kicking, but he pitched too short or, just occasionally, too full. Richie Richardson thought Ambrose was running in too hard. In the game Ambrose bowled 19 overs for 113, including 15 no- balls at two runs a time. But most of the batsmen`s runs came from pulls or slashes to third man not always played with utter sureness. Ambrose, while erratic, could have had a helmetful of wickets. Courtney Walsh rested his right shoulder after tea. Carl Hooper, while batting sublimely, is lobbing his offbreaks so gingerly that West Indies might struggle for a fifth bowler against Eng- land at Trent Bridge on Wednesday. But their major concern should be Richardson himself. In his three first-class innings on tour, the captain has scored one, four and nought - and the four came from a Chinese cut. Yes- terday Richardson aimed to work all his four straightish balls to leg and all hit his pads sooner or later. After Sherwin Campbell had glittered through the offside again, and Keith Arthurton had wellied a skier in Harvey Trump`s first over, and Chanderpaul had made a sensible fifty, Mark Lathwell rediscovered his form, moving more freely back and across, if not forwards, on his way to 76. By then the pitch was a flat old featherbed, ideal to sleep on. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)