Well Done, Sir Viv

THE EDITOR: I must commend Sir Vivian Richards and his selection panel on the inclusion of Ravi Rampaul on the West Indies senior team for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe. This, in my view, is yet another step in the resurgence of the West Indian cricket. Though many may debate his selection, his track record speaks for itself. Beginning with the International Coscutter Trophy for the under 15s in England in 2000, in which he emerged as the leading wicket taker for the West Indies team.

He bowled himself into the record books in 2002 by taking all ten wickets in an innings against the Rest of the Americas. While in the same competition he achieved the remarkable feat of replacing Rajindra Dhanraj as the leading wicket taker in a single under 19s competition. Earlier this year in August he helped Trinidad and Tobago win both titles with 15 wickets in the one day matches, and 27 wickets in the three day version. In addition he also has the experience of playing eight first class matches, with six of them played last season for the return of 18 wickets at an average of 30:27.

Ravi Rampaul generated great pace, speed and hostility in his debut season for the under 19s team in the Red Stripe Bowl in Antigua. He also bagged more than ten wickets in the competition if my memory serves me right. There are many young talented men coming through the ranks in the likes of Lendel Simmons, Dinesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo and Richard Kelly just to name a few who could all find themselves on the West Indies team in the near future. Dillon, Drakes and Collymore maybe our most experienced bowlers on this tour but Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor and Ravi Rampaul are our future. Well done Sir Viv, well done.

TERRY COX
Port-of-Spain