A Matter of Selection
Its that time again, a regional tournament to be followed by the selection of a touring squad and across the Caribbean, there is the usual hue and cry about team selection at both the territorial and international levels. Well at least the West Indies captaincy is not an issue, although to keep the pot spicy, captaincy at the territorial level has raised much debate and some controversy with further fallout likely.
It seems to me that much of this debate on team composition is fuelled by a number of inconsistencies regarding selection of the West Indies team as well as the limitations of the structure supporting West Indies cricket at the first class level.
The major inconsistency relates to the selection of the territorial teams. The Red Stripe Bowl is a competition and as a result, it must be the goal of each territorial board to select the most competitive team possible, both with the immediate competition in mind and also with consideration for the future. In some cases, it may be necessary to forego immediate success in order to rebuild the team, but generally speaking there will be a mixture of youth and experience. This contradiction of immediate success against team building or sustainability is a natural one faced by all teams regardless of the sport. However, the unique situation faced by territorial teams lies in meeting the needs of the West Indies team and the approach to the selection of that team.
From the perspective of the territorial boards, we have seen in the selection or retention of older players, including in the position of captain, when many seem to be calling for the younger ones to be exposed for the good of the West Indies team. In some cases, there has been the accusation that too many 30 year olds are in their team who have little hope of making the West Indies squad. Personally, I do not see this as a problem because every 20 year old does not have a realistic chance of making the international squad and if they cannot outperform the senior players in their team, either those senior players should be in the West Indies team or the younger players do not have a hope at this time.
I believe that Floyd Reifer, Stuart Williams and Junior Murray, to name a few players who are considered to be the ?wrong side? of 30 years, are still very capable cricketers and indeed excellent first class players as the results show. Furthermore, having played the game at the first class level for over a decade and also benefiting from international experience, they have an appreciation for the nuances of the game and also understand what it takes to win. These are assets that young talented players do not possess and which only experience and the guidance of playing alongside these veterans can provide. This is probably best reflected in the Barbados team in which its composition and balance were probably instrumental to its outstanding 2002 to 2003 season.
It is clear however that the regional selectors are generally mindful of the requirements of the international team and reflect this in the selection of the squads, even if that has an impact on the balance of the team. Case in point may be the selection of young Fidel Edwards or Pedro Collins in the Barbados line up over a player like Ryan Nurse, who is perhaps more suited to the shorter version of the game given his all-round abilities. But then this is necessary because the touring squad will or is expected to be influenced by the performances in the Red Stripe Bowl. Indeed selection to the West Indies squad is contingent on availability for the Bowl and presumably selection to the respective territorial team.
My second major concern relates to the composition of the senior or international squad. The policy of rebuilding the test team and placing emphasis on the selection of young players around Lara, Chanderpaul and to a lesser extent Jacobs and Dillon appears very commendable. But why should these same inexperienced players with a handful of first class matches and even less limited over games be forced into the one day side? It is notable that the most outstanding batsmen in the 2002 and 1998 regional one day competitions could not force their way onto the West Indies squad prior to the preparations for the 1999 and 2003 World Cups, one would have to say because they were to close to 30 years old. No lesser an individual than Sir Garry Sobers has long argued that the West Indies have recycled past failures rather than introduce young promising ones. However, even he has questioned rushing young players into the one-day version of the game.
The West Indies priority seems to be the test team, so even if an older player is much more prepared and capable than one of the youngsters for the one-day team, the fact that he is not under consideration for the longer version of the game will preclude his selection. Similarly selection of the one-day or test team also seems to be driven by how well an individual is performing in his last game, rather than his recent form or strengths in that peculiar version of the game.
This can be the only reason why young Devon Smith was ?rushed? into the recent one-days against Australia after a reasonable start in the tests, two half centuries in four innings, but after struggling in those one-days with a total of thirty-six runs in three games, was not selected for the test team in the Sri Lanka series. Similarly, Shivnarine Chanderpaul has done very well at the top of the order in the one-day version, averaging almost 43 in that position with all three of his centuries scored there as opposed to under 37 generally. Yet it seems that he does not get to open until there is a crisis as in the case of the 2003 World Cup.
My concerns therefore are how do we manage a situation where cricketers who are remain excellent first class players, but may be beyond the consideration of the test team be handled, as well as how should West Indies team selection be managed.
Clearly one solution to these challenges is a professional league where players are selected not based on nationality, but on the basis of what they can contribute to their team. Any such league will have success as a major criterion and will facilitate a more professional West Indies team. This will result from the cricketers getting the opportunity to play 15 or more first class and limited over matches a year, for their national and professional teams, as opposed to the 5 or 6 games currently. This certainly will provide a better basis for team selection than the current situation as more games will demonstrate whether a player has the ability and is ready for selection. But this suggestion is often raised and seems challenged by the limited resources that can be attracted to support cricket in the West Indies or the lack of ideas to make this happen.
A more feasible approach at this time may be for the West Indies management to take a leaf out of the Barbados selection approach over the past year, certainly for the Carib Cup competition. Trial games or selecting a squad from the league or knock out competition in question has its limitations. A competitive trial process such as the one adopted by Barbados in which the players were divided into four teams that competed against each other seemed to have some success. It would be useful to see the West Indies adopt such a concept, particularly before selecting a squad at the start of a home series of major tour.
The West Indies has not differentiated much between its test and one day sides with a few exceptions. While this approach worked in the glory years, the changing nature of the game, the relative inexperience of the team and the lack of truly great players bar one make this a weak strategy for overall success. Clearly at this stage of our cricket, while we are in rebuild mode, the rushing of young players into the one-day team seems only to engender bad habits and negatively affect their game. There are a couple of exceptions of course, perhaps Ramnaresh Sarwan being the main one. But I wonder if Ricardo Powell has not been affected by being labeled and selected as a one-day player. I cannot recall him building an innings too often, rather he is often out rushing the game, playing as though there are 5 overs left and 40 runs to get for victory.
I therefore suggest that the rotation of younger players into the one-day team should be even more cautious than into the test team. Let the players settle down and gain some more experience. Based on this I believe that a player like Floyd Reifer should be considered for this version of the game, or certainly some one who has played at the first class level for a few seasons as opposed to the talented but raw players like Omari Banks, Smith and company.
Like most fans, I hope that the West Indies team is truly competitive on its upcoming tour, but I wonder also if the approach to preparing and selecting that team will not compromise that success.