Ridley Jacobs, Autumn and Winter

When Ridley Detamore Jacobs finally made the West Indies side he was 31 years old, hardly young enough to be considered for Test debut in most countries. Some suggested that it was a backwards move to bring another player on the wrong side of thirty into an aging side.

Ridley however, soon made a mockery of any such suggestions, being the lone highlight of a dismal tour of South Africa. With his tidy glovework and gritty batting Ridely carved himself a permanent place in the West Indies lineup.

Although his Test average of 26.61 isn't in the same league as an Adam Gilchrist or an Andy Flower, Ridley's explosive batting has been a mainstay of more than a few West Indies innings. It is unfortunate indeed that his career only started in the autumn and that we missed spring and summer while the likes of Courtney Browne, Junior Murray, and Dave Williams wore the gloves for the senior team.

Even more importantly, Ridley has been a solid performer behind the stumps for most of his career. Until recently it was rare to see much get past him or all but the hardest chances go untaken.

Unfortunately, in the past year he has once again come under criticism as his form with both gloves and bat dropped, even losing his place in the Test side to Busta bully Junior Murray at the start of India's tour of the Caribbean. Ridley's loss of form should come as no surprise to anyone - after four grueling years with little respite and through a rather unrewarding time for West Indies players and fans, the man must be tired.

Anyone who has ever kept wicket any any level knows how hard a job it is. Bowlers have spells after which they get rested in the outfield, batsmen play their innings and then return to the dressing room to shower and watch their teammates from the shade or air conditioning of the pavilion. Wicketkeepers enjoy no such luxuries - each and every ball is a potential wicket and they must focus completely on the delivery from the bowler's hand to when it smacks into the gloves.

It's a tough job.

It's even tougher when you have no backup, no one to cover for you if you're injured, or when you need a rest in mid tour. Other than Wayne Phillip, who went to England in our last tour there, no one has been appointed to spell the Antiguan during overseas tours. Ridley has to keep and bat in every match. Now at almost 35 years of age, he is surely be in the winter of his career but there is no one to whom he can pass the torch.

It must be understood that the selectors are in a difficult position. Many of the national boards have until recently preferred proven domestic performers like Murray and Browne to untried youngsters, making it difficult to assess the young talent available. The creation of the West Indies 'B' team, a welcome forward thinking move from the WICB, has gone a long way to alleviate the problem for batsmen and bowlers but there is generally only one wicketkeeper on a team.

That said, the selectors must choose one or both of two options: they must either find a batsman who can keep wicket a la Jeff Dujon or else find a wicketkeeper who can bat. It seems that the only possiblities in the first category are Leon Garrick and Wavell Hinds. Garrick would be my first choice as, like Dujon before him, he cannot break into the team purely as a batsman. Perhaps this would be the opportunity to get a better assessement of the young man than a single Test match and a handful of ODIs.

The options in the second category are more numerous but inspire less confidence. From Guyana, there is Vishal Nagamootoo, Trinidad has Lendl Simmons and Keno Mason, the Windwards have Wayne Phillip (whatever happened to him?), and Jamaica has Keith Hibbert. Of these, I have the greatest hopes for young Simmons, but with only a few first class matches to his name it seems to me that he bears another season of watching and nurturing. An overseas tour as the backup wicketkeeper for the first class matches would not be wasted on this young man in the least. In fact, simply travelling with the team and carrying drinks would be a good experience for him so long as it does not keep him from playing cricket.

Ridley however, cannot wait another season. He must have a deputy now, not later, lest we lose him completely to injury and fatigue. His workload is too great, and his value to us too high to let this situation continue. Where will we be if he were to break down just before the World Cup?

In light of the urgency of the matter I put it to the selectors to act now and do this: call Leon Garrick into the limited overs side as the wicketkeeper and let Ridley sit out until the Bangladesh Tests. Maybe even sit out that series to refresh the batteries. In addition to being a top order batsman for Jamaica, I am told that Garrick has also kept wicket at club level and is comfortable with the gloves.

Furthermore, Garrick's aggressive style of batting would prove quite an asset in the one day arena just as Ridley's does. It doesn't matter where Garrick bats in the order, just get him in there.

No one could fault Ridley if he chooses to call it a day after the World Cup, for it has been a very long and hard day indeed. But the responsibility now rests with the selectors to make sure that he doesn't have to leave us before that event, or the situation will be dire indeed.