Bishop, Lequay heap praises on skipper

FORMER West Indies fast bowler, now cricket analyst, Ian Bishop, as well as Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC) president Alloy Lequay, have congratulated Brian Lara.

This after the WI captain recorded his first Test century on home soil during the final day of the second Test against Australia at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain yesterday. “It was a great century and it must be a fantastic feeling for him to get one in his home ground. The pitch was dry, the ball was turning and he was up against the best attack in the world,” Bishop said. Bishop also commented on the four-Test series, with Australia holding an unassailable 2-0 lead and retaining the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy. “We know Australia are powerful but the West Indies are showing some fighting spirit. We just have to be patient and the selectors have to come up with their best possible eleven for each match,” he said.

On the topic of team selection for the third Test match at Kensington Oval, Barbados from May 1-5, the soft-spoken Bishop said WI must play four specialist bowlers. “(Shivnarine) Chand-erpaul will be welcomed back with open arms and we must see if (Jermaine) Lawson is fit and Tino Best will be pushing for a place, as well as Chris Gayle,” he said. Lequay, a close follower of Lara’s career since his record-breaking days at the youth level, quoted Australian captain Steve Waugh who said Lara never makes a bad hundred. “We’re all very pleased for him, as well as Daren Ganga, whose innings featured a lot of application and positive technique and I hope he goes on from strength to strength,” Lequay said.

On the lack of bowling depth, the 77-year-old Lequay said the Caribbean cricketers need to seriously look at their attack. “The batsmen have scored nearly 700 runs (in the match) and the team lost comprehensively. We never bowled out the Australians and Waugh never batted in the match,” the outspoken Lequay said. “We have to look at bowlers who can get the Australians out twice and, to be very honest, I doubt we have that capability at this point in time, while they have a crop of bowlers and they will have to drop one to bring back (Glenn) McGrath,” he observed.

Veteran Australian commentator Jim Maxwell stated that Australia were always likely to produce a result because of their better quality of bowlers and the ability of their batsmen to be patient and dominate the West Indies attack. “West Indies do not have the penetration to make the Australian batsmen fight hard for their runs,” Maxwell said. The widely respected Aussie, on his fifth successive tour of the Windies praised Lara. “It was a tonic for us to see Lara bat, even though it was an almost impossible task to score over 400 runs in the final innings.” Australian strike bow-ler McGrath is likely to feature in the final two Tests in Barbados and Antigua, Maxwell said. “I’m not sure how they’ll work it out. They might go in with four pace bowlers and (Stuart) MacGill in the next match; and, on the next side, the West Indies do need some aggression in their bowling.”