W.I Selectors: Roberts, Solomon, Foster Nominated

A slate comprising former Test cricketers Andy Roberts, Joe Solomon and Maurice Foster has been put forward to make up the West Indies selection panel and well-placed sources say the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has promised its full support.

Not much is known about the procedure used by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to pick the selection committee, leading to conjecture that the three-man panel will be chosen after behind-closed-doors negotiations among WICB executives.

According to insiders, the GCB agreed to back a slate comprising of Roberts, Solomon and Foster for the senior panel. The board also nominated former off-spinner Clyde Butts for a place on the junior selection panel.

CaribbeanCricket.com has learned that Gordon Greenidge's name has been added to the mix by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), making it impossible to speculate on what the panel will eventually look like.

With the Leeward Islands Cricket Association (LICA) going public with its nomination of Sir Viv Richards, it is a very safe bet the 'Master Blaster' will find a place on the panel. In some quarters, it is being whispered that Richards would be asked to serve as Chairman.

It would be a public relations nightmare for the WICB if Richards is bypassed for this key job, especially after the furore that followed his sacking as team coach in 2000.

"It's great in a sense to be asked and to be put up by the board that you represent," Richards was quoted as saying last week. "From the names that I hear that have been put forward, I believe it will be great to work with such individuals."

Like Richards and Greenidge, Roberts, Solomon and Foster have all played Test cricket for the regional team.

There is rampant speculation that Mike Findlay has come to an end. "He's definitely a goner. I haven't even seen his name among the nominations," one source said Wednesday. It is not known if Findlay's colleagues on the panel, Barbadian Joel Garner and Trinidadian Joey Carew, have been re-nominated.

Findlay filed a request to the WICB for an extension of the term of the current panel but it was denied, leading many to believe the days of the current selectors are numbered.