Murray and Smith: Attractive Opposites
Wed, Mar 13, '02

Junior Randolph Murray scored four centuries this season (642
runs; avg 53.40) batting at either four or five. Opener Devon Smith
averaged just over 64 runs per outing, and his total was even more
impressive, an aggregate of 750. The Windward Islands depended
heavily on these two men, at opposite ends of their careers, with
different approaches and responsibilities.
Murray, it seems, will never be selected to the West Indies team
again, even in a reserve role. At least, that's how it appears when
he remains a
prolific scorer and a competent gloveman, only to be overlooked in
favour of Courtney Browne.
In this year's Busta Cup tournament, Murray had 27 dismissals,
Browne 18, and Murray was the better batsman. The former Windwards
vice-captain has been the subject of polarised speculation, to
which the likes of Brian Lara and Carl Hooper are no strangers. In
the case of Murray, though, he's on the outside looking in, and at
the age of 32, he's unlikely to be given a
second (third? fourth?) chance by the selectors.
Murray's countryman, though, is a different story. Smith is a
left-hander, compact and neat. He scored a half century on the last
day of the Busta preliminaries, and the importance was more than
just academic. Sure, it padded his stats nicely, but that score was
indicative of the prowess Smith has shown all season, one of four
consistent performers for the Windwards. (The other two, John
Eugene and skipper Rawl Lewis, were consistent in a different, less
celebrated way.) Tony Cozier joined the British media in
lauding Smith after his performances in England last year with the
regional youth team, and surely this young man has blossomed under
the
spotlight.
So, there they are. Murray's time has passed him, like Eugene,
Lewis and the rest. Smith represents a new Windward Islands, and
perhaps, with Darren Sammy, Shane Shillingford, Camillus Alexander,
Rommel Currency and the like,
a new West Indies.
They're the first beneficiaries of what little wisdom the WICB has
shown this past decade, products of a youth system that actually
seems to be somewhat purposeful and well-designed. The challenge
now is to keep these young men, these Smiths and Sammys and
Shillingfords, on the right track, a track diametrically opposed to
the one on which their elder peers have taken.
* Terry Finisterre is an award-winning sports journalist based
in St. Lucia. He also is the sports editor at Radio Caribbean
International and
operates the OECS Athlete
Web site.