Greenidge unhappy with batting tactics

It's still early days in the Stanford 20/20 Tournament but some teams have not yet found the right formula to the new, fast-food form of the game. That assessment has come from Gordon Greenidge, one of 14 West Indian cricket legends who are acting as ambassadors for the lucrative tournament which completed its eighth match last night between Antigua and St. Lucia.

"They've been spots in some of the teams where they seem to have lost the understanding of one-day cricket," Greenidge said. "I still feel that most of the time, whether it is in this 20/20 tournament or in the one-day tournament in the Caribbean, our players feel they have to go out there and hit every ball for four or six."

In the first seven matches, there were as many instances when teams failed to score at a run-a-ball. In some instances, they paid the price for losing too many wickets at the start when the approach was to immediately get after the bowling.

"We still need to learn the finer points of this game, where we can maneuver the ball in the field. If you're not getting the boundaries, you can still get six, seven, eight runs an over," he said. "We need to understand that. Other than that, most of the teams have geared themselves very well towards the competition. They would not have known what to expect. I'm sure the legends would have spoken to them to tell them what is expected of them."

Prior to yesterday, the highest total in the competition was Cayman Islands' 175 for four against Bahamas, a total that was built on a stand of 144 between Barbados-born Pearson Best and Saheed Mohamed. The lowest total was Dominica's 83 against Grenada. In another match, St Kitts were reeling on 29 for seven but eventually managed 100.

"Whether it is in the 50-over match, the Test match and now the 20/20, someone between one and six has to look to bat through most of the overs," he added. "The only time two batsmen clicked at the same time was when Best and Mohammed were in partnership. There were classical shots and cricket shots. They scored runs in grand fashion."