ormer Windies opener Philo Wallace insists opener John Campbell should consider himself lucky as he did not merit selection for the team’s upcoming tour of New Zealand, based on his most recent performance in England.

Campbell, in truth, did indeed struggle to make a strong impression at the crease against England in July.  The left-handed batsman averaged a paltry 16.8 while tallying only 84 runs in six innings as the regional side lost the three-Test series 2-1.  Campbell was caught behind twice, while in the first innings of the final Test he was caught for 32 when attempting to negotiate a steep short delivery from Jofra Archer.  Wallace believes those struggles should have cost the batsman his spot.

“John Campbell is a very lucky man, I wish him all the best but it’s 'very best' in common letters.  He struggled in England and then came back and said why he struggled, and we are taking him for another tour of New Zealand, which is said will be tougher,” Wallace said on the Mason and Guest radio program.

Read more at SportsMax

Sounds like a personal issue
What’s Philo’s problem

In reply to Halliwell

He makes a valid point tho

In reply to imusic

but that same argument holds for all the guys that went to England,with little exception for Blackwood.

In reply to camos

I guess party politics!

In reply to camos

Agreed. Not just Campbell. Blackwood and Chase get a Bligh.... and Chase only because of his bowling.

At the end of the day, Gopaul luck ain’t Seepaul luck

Wallace made a valid point, Campbell was one of the worst of the bad, every batsman other than Campbell and Hope made at least a fifty in one of the Test matches, so it is hard to justify taking him to NZ.

In reply to imusic

Like how you are working your way up to Chanderpaul.

In reply to imusicCampbell will have to come good in NZ from the first ball, there is no Hope there to shield him from criticism.

Wallace's argument ignores the fact that there are no viable replacements for the mediocers. Also, he was ranting like a mad man which did not come across well.

In reply to sunfish

It would ha e helped had he identified those that he claimed are “champing at the bit for selection”

i like philo forthright commentary at times but i don't understand this criticism outside of john campbell who is indeed lucky who are these batsmen chomping at the bit to get into this test side who are not already there?maybe moseley or mayers but not alot of contenders

In reply to Halliwell

as long as we keep rewarding the nurses' Hopes and brooks etc Philo will be happy where was he when Blackwood was being kept out
TBH the best players in the Caribbean are mostly from TT I can live with that our team needs to reflect that fact


Mia needs to have a word with the mouthamassy

In reply to ponderiver





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In reply to ponderiver

I expect T&T to win this year's 4 day competition then

Campbell indeed is lucky. He was horrible, I dont remember him lasting 10 overs in any innings but I'm glad he was given another opportunity because he truly has potential to be a good player when he's on song.

if that was true they would be in the wi side and t&T would have won a lot more fc championships when was the last time t&t even won a championship ?

Campbell has a unique opportunity as the first non-Bajan in a long time given a second chance, it will be in his best interest to grab this with both hands and turn out some stellar batting performances in NZ or his test career for now will be over. I agree with most posters that the irate Philo should identify possible replacements, for I am of the opinion that the only reason why both Braithwaite and Campbell were retain is because there are no other experienced test openers available in the region but it might be time now to start coaching some of our young batsmen around the region as openers.

In reply to Slipfeeler
As a Jamaican, your are able to see the development of world class sprinters, what goes into making an individual the bet he/she can be.
Is that development and structure the same for cricket?

In reply to openning

Honestly bro, the pool of potential career cricketers in Jamaica is dwindling rapidly, as most young athletes are more interested in football, track and field or maybe even Basketball. CWI and the JCA have not promoted cricket as a sport to young Jamaicans in the last 10 years, or even around the region. Cricket has to be seen as a viable option among young athletes around our region not just in Jamaica, considering the enormous number of University scholarships available to Caribbean athletes in football, track and basketball.

In reply to Slipfeeler
The entire region is in the same boat.
There are two stadiums in Jamaica, Guyana and T&T, three in Antigua, one each in the other Islands.
Are there any academies set up in any area fully staff, to continue the development of our cricketers?

We were fortunate to have the counties as the finishing schools for our cricketers during the 70's & 80's, not only could these players, play cricket from May to October, they were also paid for playing the game.
It is over 25 years, and it is getting worst.
The IPL is not going after our youngsters any more, seeing the number of guys playing.

In reply to openning

In reply to Slipfeeler

Has UWI discontinued its Sports Scholarships dat some of these cricketers benefited from?

In reply to imusic
In the last 5 years, only Pooran and Hetmyer have been in the starting line-up.
Paul, Allen and Rutherford sat on the bench all year, yet see if they are retained next year,

Lewis, Simmons, Charles, Fletcher, Brathwaite, Sammy and many more, not even sort after.
Pooran, Narine and Pollard maybe the only players drafted next year.

In reply to openning

Fletcher? Charles? In IPL? Stick to BCA bruh


Next IPL.....look out for Brandon King and Kyle Mayers joining the league and Evin Lewis rejoining the IPL

The same way the selectors were forced to pick himself (Philo) and his partner Clayton Lambert to salvage whatever pride was left until they could have gotten someone with some form of substance or permanence, I see no reason why they couldn't recall K. Powell or even Devon Smith whose regional performance remains enviable.

Looking from the eyes of Philo Wallace.

In reply to Maispwi

I do believe these scholarships still exist, although I personally think they apply more to track and field and football then cricket to a lesser extent.

In reply to Lamb

Looking at the players objectively, forget about nationality or insularity, just the mere facts, I might have time for Kieran Powell only because his test stats are about the same as the others but Devon Smith test stats is about 23, well below the others.

In reply to imusic

He does.....wish he was as vocal during Cameron's time though

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com what was wallace average on the 98/99 tour of south africa again?

In reply to imusic
Wallace was speaking from being a member of the task force on selection.
He reminded the chief selector of that.
The podcast is there for all to listen to.

In reply to nat

And at least Campbell had an excuse.....it was his first time playing test cricket in England......what was kraigg's excuse.....seeing that this was his 3rd time there, his secobd playing tour, not mentioning his spell with Yorkshire

In reply to velo

The same time it probably would have taken BIM who probably would still be looking for a win if they weren't padding the senior team with Bajans.

Well Mr. Wallace until CWI puts th8ngs in place to develop potential talent, we have very few to select from these days.

In reply to natty_forever

Cameron disbanded the high performance Sagicor school and nothing was put in its place, many promising players praised the school at that time for the improvements it help them with. I guess money is an issue, but until some training camps are brought back, the young players will have to depend on local coaches who might have little international experience.

In reply to TheTrail

Phillo Wallace played 7 test matches for West Indies, totalling a meager 279 runs with a lifetime test average of 21.46, even Sammy has a better test average than him. Campbell has so far played 9 test matches, accumulating 382 runs with an average of 25.5, so if Phillo Wallace considers Campbell as mediocrity then he is really pointing at himself as less than mediocre.

In reply to dayne

Doh forget giving his friends contracts for team building exercises.......for WICB office staff