Thankfully, Sanity Outweighs Madness

The 16-man team announced by the West Indies cricket selectors for the series against England is the usual mixture of sanity and madness. Perhaps that convergence is our Caribbean lot. However, to their credit this time around there is more sanity than madness.

The sanity lies in the axing of Merv Dillon, Vasbert Drakes and Daren Ganga. Dillon and Drakes had overspent their time. They really have no place in the team, given the fact that there are other fast bowlers around who, though raw, can at least take wickets.

It is better to have young raw bowlers who can take wickets, rather that experienced ones who have forgotten how to take wickets. The latter category includes Washington, Edwards and Best. These bowlers have shown that they have determination -- one of the qualities that help the transformation from rawness to effectiveness. Dillon has never been determined. Washington?s selection is a dose of audacity reminiscent of the Omari Banks, Dwayne Smith and Fidel Edwards selections last year. Best?s selection is a case of the selectors correcting a glaring mistake. He should not have been discarded last year.

The selectors seem to be finally signaling that performance or clear and present potential to do so are the guiding principles in the selection process. In this regard they got it wrong with Sanford and Mohamed. There is absolutely no case for Sanford, especially with bowlers of superior skills such as Darren Powell, Richardson, Rampaul, and Jerome Taylor around. Clearly madness. On the spin front, because there is no super spinner, selection must come down to current form and utility. In this regard, McGarrell, Nagamootoo and Breese outstrip Mohamed. Clearly madness twice.

Other suspect selections are Collymore and Ryan Hinds. Collymore is a journeyman much like Bradshaw, but Bradshaw can bat. What puts Ryan Hinds ahead of Bravo, Bernard, Sammy or even Breese and McGarrell is a mystery only the selectors can explain. All these players are steady at best, but in my book Hinds trail the others based on determination current form.

Ganga?s omission is a good stroke and even if Wavell Hinds and Samuels were fit, they could not make my team. Samuels is a case of talent without discipline and the proper attitude -- a sure liability in the modern game. Wavell Hinds? inconsistency arises largely out of his poor technique; something he shares with Gayle. However Gayle compensates with maximum fire in his eyes and belly; Hinds lacks those attributes. Ganga is Ganga -- good technique and fair temperament, but he is just not a Test cricketer.

As is the case with Tino Best, Devon Smith and, to some extent, Ricardo Powell have embarrassed the selectors. Powell should have been playing test cricket; his approach is no different from Dwayne Smith?s. Powell has been criticized for poor shot selection, but if you tell him that you just need him for the ?slog? then that is what he will perfect. Test cricket is just the tonic he needs to discipline his batting. And because he is a superlative fielder, even when he makes 30 runs, it is really 80, as he would have saved forty in the field. Strategy and tactics are not only the business of captains, but crucially also for selectors.

So where are we in relation to the upcoming series? For me, we win or lose based on the final eleven we select. Cricket is a team sport, so the combination matters, especially when the team lacks superstars. West Indies can win if the starting eleven looks like this -- Gayle, Devon Smith, Sarwan, Lara, Chanderpaul, Powell, Jacobs, Washington, Best, Edwards and Mohamed. Of course I would prefer McGarrell, Nagamootoo or Breese instead of Mohamed, but I can live with such a team to start with.

* Dr David Hinds is an Assistant Professor of Africana and Caribbean Studies and Political Science at Arizona State Universities. His other writings on Politics and Culture can be found on his website at GuyanaCaribbeanPolitics.com.