The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
Barbadian fast bowler Tino Best will have to wait a little longer for his Test debut.
The West Indies selection panel omitted Best and Jamaican all-rounder David Bernard Jr. from a 12-man list for the second Test in Trinidad & Tobago but there is no word yet on the make up of the final XI.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
Brian Lara has been given the responsibility of captaining a young West Indian team. By accident or design, the West Indies are fielding an inexperienced side in the Test match starting in Port of Spain on Saturday.
After years of fiddling around with men incapable of understanding, let alone appreciating, the tradition they had inherited, the West Indies are making a fresh start. Having been part of the problem, Lara must prove he can be part of the solution. Most particularly he must convince sceptics that he has the unselfishness and maturity required in captains hoping to inspire the next generation. Time is on his side. If he prospers he can lead the regional team into the next World Cup, a competition it can win. If he falls short then he will be remembered mainly for his batting.
Three months ago, Narsingh Deonarine?s fledgling career was at a crossroads. Indifferent form leading up to selection of the Guyana team for the Carib Beer tournament resulted in him being relegated to the ranks of reserves.
With West Indies players Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan probably returning for the latter rounds of the competition, the young Deonarine seemed destined to a season of watching the action from the pavilion.
Former Trinidad & Tobago and West Indies off-spinner Rangy Nanan believes the selection of spinning all-rounder Omari Banks on the West Indies 13-man squad for the second Cable and Wireless Test match which starts on Saturday against Australia at the Queen's Park Oval is a step in the right direction and a sound investment.
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Wes Hall plans to quit the post at the board's upcoming annual general meeting because of health issues, a well-placed source disclosed this week.
Hall, the smooth-talking religious minister who ran unopposed in 2001, has already notified some members of the board that he won't seek re-election and behind-the-scenes negotiations have already begun to identify a successor.