Sir Viv's Tactical Blunder

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The Viv Richards-led West Indies selection panel has shown extreme meekness and some mild ineptitude in naming the squad and choice of captain for the tour of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is miles behind the other test playing nations and provides the perfect opportunity to give the burgeoning youngsters a chance to prove their worth. There has been much talk that a number of young players who have shown promise were not being thrown into the fray at the highest level because they lack experience. This is folly of the highest degree...

Before the very Sir Viv Richards had made his test debut he too was 'inexperienced', this is the same for every other international player. The only way for a player to chalk up experience in test and ODI cricket is by actually playing Test and ODI cricket.

Let us get past the obvious and the inevitable. Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramanresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Jermaine Lawson, Daren Powell, Ricardo Powell and Daren Ganga were all widely-expected inclusions. Shiv Chanderpaul may have been considered for a rest. But this dude loves batting only second to his wife that if a rest was offered to him he would have refused. Corey Collymore, the ODI specialist, though has struggled after returning from injury has never been given a real try at Test level, this as good a time as any to throw him in the fray without sacrificing much. So 11 of the 15 players chosen are picks that do not raise much alarm.

Let us examine the others.
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Overworked and under appreciated keeper Ridley Jacobs too should have been rested for this series. A young keeper ought to have begun the grooming process in thise series. That young keeper should have been the best glovesman in the Caribbean behind Ridley Jacobs. His name is Vishal Nagamootoo and he can be found in Berbice, Guyana. He is head and shoulders above the 'A' Team keeper Keith Hibbert and is more than half decent with the bat.
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But with Jacobs rested, who captains? Wavell Wayne Hinds. Among the youngsters he is the one who fits the bill most suitably. He has a shrewd cricketing brain and a propensity to attack, it is obvious from his batting. Such an attitude will be a welcome departure from the sometimes ultra defensiveness of Carl Hooper. It would have given the selectors a chance to have a good look at him as a possible option to take over from Hooper when his knees finally tell him it is time for him to retire to the outback. Hinds may not have had any experience captaining Jamaica but with the selectors clearly signaling that he is their lead candidate he should have been tested against the lowly Bangladeshis, then his performance would have given them some measure of his abilities

?Hinds is obviously the number one choice to take over from Hooper as had he been selected for the 'A' Team tour to England, he would have taken over the captaincy from Daren Ganga. Surely the selectors could not be considering Jacobs as a serious successor to Hooper in the top spot. For those who know him, personality-wise, Jacobs is as unsuitable for the West Indies captaincy as is Chanderpaul.?
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It is obvious that our lead fast bowler Merv Dillon has been suffering from overwork of late and it is shortsighted to not offer him a rest before the World Cup, when his services will be crucial and the testing tour of Australia early next year as well. The newly instituted Medical Advisor, Dr Akshai Mansingh has confirmed that Dillon has been suffering from a recurrence of lower back strain.

A fast bowler?s back is not to be messed around with. There is not much of an opportunity for him to take a break, rest and recuperate after this series. A golden opportunity is being wasted. There is more long term harm than good in forcing Dillon to play in Bangladesh. With the hectic ICC ten-year plan in operation, every opportunity to rest crucial players, particularly when they are suffering from injuries, must be utilized wisely.

Pedro Collins has shown visible signs of physical discomfort in the last ODI against India. Dr Mansingh has also confirmed Collins' injury, though it is not absolutely clear as to the nature. He has played in the ODIs against India simply because the ODI specialist Corey Collymore and Cameron Cuffy have been turning in woeful performances.
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His combination of injury and caution with overwork, should have been enough to have him take a break and recover with the two fold intention of offering some scarce experience at the highest level to a deserving young quick.
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Bangladesh's batting is not much better than the average Busta Cup team, so the youngsters should be in a comfortable zone. It was not like they would have been thrown as bait for bloody thirsty batting sharks, the likes of Matthew Hayden, Sanath Jayasuriya or Virender Sehwag.
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One has to hope that after the three One Day matches, Vasbert Drakes will be returning home and a young pacer will take his place. That pacer should be one of Adam Sanford or Kerry Jeremy. By virtue of dropping Sanford after he took 20 wicket in seven Tests this year it has to be assumed that the selectors know something(s) we do not, in that case Jeremy should be the number one option. He has consistently performed in the top bracket of fast bowlers for the past two Busta Cups.
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Surely after the three One Day matches the squad has to be changed. If this is not the intention, as seems to be the case it will only contribute to the idiocy that has plagued the team selection for too long.

Three members of the named squad should have been rested, another should find the next flight back to the Caribbean after the ODIs.
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A few questions one is forced to ponder.
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What do the selectors have in mind for Gareth Breese? First he is selected in the ODI squad, then dropped from the ODI squad, then selected for Tests and makes his debut and is subsequently dropped for another ODI series. Now he cannot make either the ODI or test squads.

How is Daren Ganga making an ODI squad ahead of Floyd Reifer? How can an opening batsman be replacing a middle order batsman (Hooper) ahead of another middle order batsman who has destroyed everything in his way in the Red Stripe Bowl? What unforgivable has Reifer done?
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If Devon Smith is not called up for the Test series then this young man can consider himself cheated. He has proven his class in the Busta Cup and 'A' Tour but seems unable to even get a simple acknowledgement from the selectors. Has he too committed some unforgivable crime?
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Why is Dinanath Ramnarine not part of this squad? This man by any measure is the best spin bowler in the Caribbeanand a middle order batsman turned spinner is playing test cricket ahead of him. Ramnarine must be a very puzzled man at the moment, but then again our selectors have always been puzzlers of minds.
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The bravest thing that the selectors have done in naming the squad is dropping Cuffy, let us hope that for the upward mobility of West Indies cricket he remains out and not serve as an obstacle towards the development of a much more talented youngsters such as Lawson Powell or even Jeremy and Sanford.

The selectors have chosen the squad not with the intention of giving the youngsters a break, we will pay dearly for this tactical blunder.

These should have been the teams:

ODI SQUAD
Wavell Hinds - captian
Chris Gayle
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Marlon Samuels
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Ricardo Powell
Vishal Nagamootoo
Darren Powell
Jermaine Lawson
Mahendra Nagamootoo
Floyd Reifer
Kerry Jeremy
Vasbert Drakes
Corey Collymore
Gareth Breese

TEST SQUAD
Wavell Hinds - captain
Chris Gayle
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Marlon Samuels
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Ricardo Powell
Devon Smith
Vishal Nagamootoo
Darren Powell
Jermaine Lawson
Dinanath Ramnarine
Kerry Jeremy
Corey Collymore
Adam Sanford
Daren Ganga

* What do you make of these picks? Send feedback to webmaster@caribbeancricket.com.