Colin Stuart: End of the Road?

His enthusiasm for bowling was endless. His commitment to the game of cricket, unsurpassed. He was, arguably, the most dedicated player in Guyana.

One just had to see him running around the National Park, practicing at his beloved Malteenoes Sports Club, or working out furiously in the gym, to understand the level of surprise felt when it was announced that Colin Stuart had withdrawn from Guyana's Carib Beer team.

Stuart, who played six Tests for the West Indies between 2000 and 2002, cited ?personal reasons? mainly connected with studies as the reason for his withdrawal. He said he was finding it difficult to incorporate them with cricket and, as a result, his studies suffered.

It is now common knowledge that his cricket also suffered, as his returns in the first two rounds of the Carib Beer reflect, and this could have been the catalyst for his final decision. Stuart claimed four for 94 in the first innings of the opening match against Trinidad and Tobago. Figures by no means surprising, giving his modus operandi, which sacrificed strict control for pace. However, it was the 20 no-balls sent down which indicated that all was not well with the 29-year-old. He went wicket-less in the second innings and in the next match against the Leewards, and promptly asked management to be omitted.

Stuart, who made his Test debut in Australia in the 2000-2001 whitewash, bowled with real pace ? clocking as much as 93 miles per hour in Zimbabwe. He claimed 20 wickets at an average of 31.40 before he was taken out of the attack after sending down two beamers at Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya and never bowling again in Test cricket.

A former West Indies Youth player, Stuart also represented the senior team in five one-day internationals, the latest against Kenya in Nairobi in 2001.

Stuart is quoted as saying he would take a break for the rest of the year then maybe try to regain his place in the Guyana team but could this be the end of the road for the affable Malteenoes pacer.

Since making his debut in 1995 against the Leeward Islands, Stuart has more or less been a permanent fixture in the Guyana team. However, his indifferent form or late ? dating back to 2002, and the fact that a number of young, promising fast bowlers have arrived on the scene, could make in difficult for him to make a successful return.

Competing for the honour of sharing the new ball with Stuart?s long-time partner Reon King are Reon Griffith, the pacy Rayon Thomas, along with the likes of Esaun Crandon and Naresh Roopnarine.

There is some hope for his fans though, as Stuart has showed in the past that he can come back from adversity, the most serious being the back injury which threatened to end his career even before it started.

For now however, it seems like the career of a man who gave his all to Guyana?s cricket, has come to a sudden (and sad) end.