Perplexingly, anotherWest Indies Test series will pass without an appearance by the bowler who has been, year after year, the region’s most prolific wicket-taker in first-class cricket. What more does Nikita Miller have to do to get the selectors to take a look in his direction? How many more wickets should the Jamaican have gathered? How many more games ought he to have won almost on his own to add another maroon cap to the one he collected all those years ago?
Miller and Sulieman Benn from Barbados are both left-arm spinners. Both have had success at the first-class level for a long time. In 99 first-class games, Benn has gathered 379 wickets at a reasonably good average of 26.73. Miller’s figures are better: 90 games have yielded him 461 wickets at an astounding 16.54.
Benn has been one of the more reliable wicket-takers during the West Indies’ regional four-day competition. Miller, almost every year, has been unstoppable. When the statistics are computed at the end of each season, the Jamaican is likely to be at, or very near the top of the list in every category: most wickets, lowest average, lowest economy rate, lowest strike rate.
And yet, for some unexplainable reason, Benn has played 26 Tests and Miller, as mentioned, has only one to his name. His lone Test cap came during Bangladesh’s 2009 tour of the Caribbean when most of the first-choice players took strike action against the board over a pay dispute. He never managed to get anything in the wickets column, conceding 67 runs in 22 overs. But surely, not much can be gleaned from a solitary appearance.
Miller and Sulieman Benn from Barbados are both left-arm spinners. Both have had success at the first-class level for a long time. In 99 first-class games, Benn has gathered 379 wickets at a reasonably good average of 26.73. Miller’s figures are better: 90 games have yielded him 461 wickets at an astounding 16.54.
Benn has been one of the more reliable wicket-takers during the West Indies’ regional four-day competition. Miller, almost every year, has been unstoppable. When the statistics are computed at the end of each season, the Jamaican is likely to be at, or very near the top of the list in every category: most wickets, lowest average, lowest economy rate, lowest strike rate.
And yet, for some unexplainable reason, Benn has played 26 Tests and Miller, as mentioned, has only one to his name. His lone Test cap came during Bangladesh’s 2009 tour of the Caribbean when most of the first-choice players took strike action against the board over a pay dispute. He never managed to get anything in the wickets column, conceding 67 runs in 22 overs. But surely, not much can be gleaned from a solitary appearance.
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