'We Couldn't Ignore In-Form Players' - Findlay

Chairman of the West Indies selectors Mike Findlay has acknowledged that Stuart Williams and Junior Murray were recalled to the West Indies team because of their recent rich form.

"We need to start the series on a good footing, so we?ve gone for the form players,? Findlay said after the announcement of the 13-man squad for the opening Cable & Wireless Test against India, starting on Thursday in Guyana.

Williams, the 32-year-old Nevisian, gained selection ahead of Daren Ganga on the strength of his record-breaking 974 runs in the Busta Series.

?We could not ignore Williams? performance. He is the man in form.?

Findlay added, however, that it did not mean it was the end of the road for 23-year-old Ganga, who has averaged a modest 20.85 in his 15 Tests, all of which were outside the Caribbean.

?A lot of people are probably concerned that we invested so much in Daren Ganga and that he?s not been included,? Findlay said on the CMC CricketPlus broadcast of the Busta International Shield final at Sabina Park in Jamaica.

?In rebuilding you also have to continue to win. We haven?t won away for some time and we needed to get our players to understand the importance of winning.?

Both Williams and Murray will be appearing in a Test match for the first time since the 1998-99 tour of South Africa.

The 34-year-old Murray, like Williams, performed outstandingly in the Busta Series, cracking four centuries on the way to 642 runs. As a wicket-keeper, he also hauled in the most dismissals.

He displaces the once reliable Ridley Jacobs, whose form behind and in front of the stumps has declined on recent tours. ?Ridley has lost form. He has also looked a little lethargic,? Findlay said.

?Our batting has been the problem. We have been worried about that for a long time.

?If Ridley is not in form, the tail is lengthened. We had that on the last two tours where Ridley has not been in much form and we had a very long tail.?

Former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh said he would have opted for Jacobs as his wicket-keeper.

?Ridley has served West Indies well in the past, I probably thought they would have started with him, but they have gone for Murray, maybe on the strength of his runs," Walsh said.

Walsh?s fellow Jamaican Mark Neita, who played first-class cricket in the 1980s, endorsed the selection of Murray.

?When you come into a season and you have been dominant as he has been this season, then you are telling the selectors you are ready again,? Neita said.

?What really worked for Murray was that Jacobs has not only struggled behind the wicket, he is not scoring runs. ?It is very important in contemporary cricket that your wicket-keeper makes a contribution with the bat and, with four centuries behind his [Murray?s] name, I think the selectors had no option.?

* SOURCE: Barbados Nation