The selectors have predictably stuck to the players whoserved the West Indies well in Zimbabwe and Kenya recentlyfor the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka that will provide amore genuine guide as to their true status
Tony Cozier14-Oct-2001The selectors have predictably stuck to the players whoserved the West Indies well in Zimbabwe and Kenya recentlyfor the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka that will provide amore genuine guide as to their true status.All but one of the 16 players named yesterday were on theAfrican trip that produced success in both Test and One-Dayseries.The odd man out is Brian Lara, whose cricket since the endof the home series against South Africa in May has beenrestricted to three Red Stripe Bowl matches over the pasttwo weeks.The Sri Lankan venture, of three Tests and a triangular One-Day series, presents a test as much of his appetite for thegame he has graced with his sublime batting, as of thestrength of a team that has shown glimpses of emerging froma long and depressing slump.Twice in the past two years Lara has withdrawn from action,if for different reasons.He took four months off early last year after resigning thecaptaincy to rebuild all facets of my game so as to sustainthe remainder of my cricketing career.In June, he pulled out of the Zimbabwe tour even before ithas started because of a persistent right hamstring injurythat has bothered him for more than a year and evenprevented him participating in Trinidad and Tobago’s trialsfor the Bowl a few weeks ago.His motivation has been questioned by many, most prominentamong them the president of the Trinidad and Tobago CricketBoard, Alloy Lequay. There are others, like Sir EvertonWeekes, fearful that the game has seen the best of him.Sri Lanka, well-balanced, confident after a recent homeseries triumph over India, strong in batting and withMuttiah Muralitheran, one of the finest off-spinners of alltime in their ranks, represent appreciably more challengingopposition than the limited Zimbabweans. The West Indieswill have to be at their very best to compete and prevent arepetition of the humiliations they have endured overseasprior to their recent African trip. The task would beconsiderably eased if Lara provides the leadership with hisbatting that has so often been essential to the cause, mostprominently against the Australians in the Caribbean in1999.Lara has taken the place of another left-hander, WavellHinds, whose exit from the team represents a decline thathas become commonplace among promising young West Indianplayers. Only a year-and-a-half ago, in Lara’s firstabsence, Hinds was scoring 165 at No.3 in his fifth Testinnings against a Pakistani attack of Wasim Akram, WaqarYounis, Abdur Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed anddriving away with the Man Of The Series car.Now, a host of unfortunate umpiring decisions later and withgrowing self-doubt, he must wonder about his future. Heshould not despair. He is only 25 and an opening but not asopener will eventually appear.Corey Collymore is another whose early promise has faded sothat he, too, is again on the outside, of both West Indiesand Barbados teams, only three months after earning the Man-Of-The-Match award in the final victory over India in theZimbabwe One-Day final.His misfortune has been a serious back injury that hascaused him to remodel his action and transformed a fast,aggressive, outswing bowler of exciting possibilities into achest-on journeyman.One can only imagine his utter frustration at not being ableto gain selection among five fast bowlers, even in theabsence of Cameron Cuffy, whose foot injury developed inZimbabwe is more long-term than first thought. Once more,Ridley Jacobs has been chosen as the only wicket-keeper.Chief selector Mike Findlay explained yesterday that, sincethe squad was limited to 16, to have chosen another wouldhave been at the expense of a batsman or a bowler and theywere not prepared to make that sacrifice.It is an enormous risk. It prompts the chilling image ofLeon Garrick or Ramnaresh Sarwan filling in with not an iotaof previous experience of keeping should Jacobs crack afinger or come down with anthrax the day before a Test.As it was, it would have happened in the final against Indiain Zimbabwe but for pleading by the management that delayeda suspension on Jacobs. And Colombo is even further awayfrom the Caribbean than Harare.As it is, Jacobs is carrying an injury to a finger that kepthim out of the last two Red Stripe Bowl matches and CourtneyBrowne has been summoned to the preparatory camp in Jamaicathat starts Tuesday and goes through to October 23 as aprecautionary measure, the West Indies Cricket Board saidyesterday.The doctor has advised that Jacobs participate in battingdrills only during the camp, following which he will beassessed to determine his fitness for the tour, the WICBrelease stated.The team leaves for Sri Lanka on October 30.