Why Style Is Grace Under Pressure
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday February 19, 1988
The wild rush to catch an aeroplane flight can sometimes bring the best out of an individual.
For Scott Grace, an apprentice carpenter from Murwillumbah, one eye on the clock and the other on the wicket had the intoxicating effect of enabling him to take a hat-trick against West Indies Youth to win the match for the NSW under-19 team at the Village Green, Kensington, yesterday.
At 6.10pm it was touch and go whether the paceman Grace, who was still on the field playing, would have enough time to get into his civilian clothes, catch a taxi and travel to Sydney Airport in time for a flight to Coolangatta and then Lismore, so he could go to work in Murwillumbah today.
NSW team officials were even contemplating taking him off the field so he could catch his flight.
But Grace decided on a more appropriate effort, taking the eighth, ninth and 10th West Indian wickets in successive balls to give NSW a 50-run victory, and finish the game three overs early.
"It was not a bad time to do it. I could see the clock up above the ground, and was aware it was getting a little late," Grace said, before rushing into the dressing-room to continue the next leg of a frantic rush to Mascot.
To add a further bizarre twist, Grace has to return to Sydney tomorrow to play for the Manly first-grade side against North Sydney in a special trial.
After NSW had scored 9-205 in their allocated 50 overs, the West Indies were always behind the required run-rate, and needed more than 60 runs off their last six overs.
Then Grace opted for the bloodless end by wrapping up the innings with the fourth, fifth, and sixth delivery in the 47th over. He had Trevor Samuels caught by Justin Quint, then clean bowled Dennison Thomas and Stevenson Simon, to dismiss West Indies for 155.
Grace finished with the figures of 4-37 off nine overs.
The West Indies' loss was a severe disappointment before the Youth World Cup, to be held in the Riverland and Sunraysia districts later this month, particularly after their dismal drubbing from the same side on Wednesday.
The West Indies Youth side had severe difficulties on a damp pitch and were dismissed for only 83. When NSW passed the tourists' score with six wickets remaining, the teams decided on playing a separate 50-over match yesterday.
Still, the West Indies showed immense promise in all facets of the game. As expected, their fielding was excellent, the pace barrage ominous, and batting adventurous. Their application let them down at times.
However, the strong base of the team management, with former West Indian captain Rohan Kanhai coaching the side, will ensure that occasional lapses in concentration will not be accepted for too long.
The most pleasing side of the West Indies touring party is the emergence of promising stroke-makers, including captain Brian Lara, Roland Holder and Jimmy Adams, who scored a lusty 38, yesterday.
In recent years it appeared that most young West Indians wanted to emulate the feats of their pace bowling heroes, which is expected considering the never-ending line of fast and furious speedsters from the Carribean in the past 15 years.
However the team manager and former Barbados player Tony King believes it is a gross exaggeration that only pace bowlers are coming out of West Indies.
"Obviously the tradition has been set where young ones want to come on as pace bowlers, but we are certainly still producing plenty of good batsmen,"King said.
"Carl Hooper is an obvious example, and there are many more among the sides. However the quality of the wickets has dropped somewhat lately, giving the bowler more of an advantage."
The West Indies will play the Australian Youth team in a four-day match at North Sydney, starting tomorrow.
© 1988 Sydney Morning Herald