WI face spin dilemma on eve of England tour

In the most significant signal, that his days as a West Indian player are numbered, Meryvn Dillon will find himself out of the regional cricket team for the upcoming Test series against England. It is understood that a lot of thought has gone into the composition of the West Indies team for the crucial series beginning next month, where for the first time, the Caribbean cricketers will be the underdogs. Apart from Dillon, also feeling the wrath of the selectors will be Trinidad and Tobago’s cricket captain Daren Ganga who has endured a barren spell since the Second Test against South Africa earlier this year. He also faltered in two Tests against England recently.

Debate also rages over the inclusion of a recognised spinner in the final 11, with the West Indies captain Brian Lara saying one thing and the selectors stating the opposite. The man who seems to be in the middle of it all is another TT player, spinner Dave “Tadpole” Mohammed, who after a solitary Test against South Africa has not been able to find favour with the regional selectors. Also for the first time in over ten years, the West Indies will travel to England with only two recognised openers, again raising questions over the quality of openers in the Caribbean. Jamaican Wavell Hinds has not satisfied anyone that he is fit enough for such an arduous tour and Ganga has finally admitted he needs help, going to Desmond Haynes in Barbados for assistance. There are many who believe Ganga should have utilised the home grown talent of probably the best technician in the game, Richard Gabriel, who would have been more than willing to assist.

“The way, the story broke out of Barbados was not in a good way for Ganga, because Haynes seems to give the impression that he was doing Ganga a big favour and if Ganga wanted this to be low profile, that never happened here. So Ganga needs to take advice more before doing some of these things,” a source close to the West Indies Cricket Board told Newsday. The good news for TT though is that youngsters Ravi Rampaul and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo are expected to be on the team, joining their countryman and captain Lara. The surprise of the tour will be the middle order positions where Ryan Hinds, Sylvester Joseph, Dwayne Smith and Ricardo Powell, now TT-based are expected to battle for two places. “Clearly Dwayne Smith because of his all-round ability with both bat and ball has the edge over the others, notwithstanding he is an excellent fieldsman. Ricardo Powell has similar features, but his problem may be his too similar to Smith, while Hinds fielding is a problem for some,” noted the source. “On the other hand Sylvester Joseph has to be in the reckoning because he appears to have the patience for Test cricket,” he said.

Probable West Indies team:
Brian Charles Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain)Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith , Sylvester Joseph, Dwayne Bravo, Ridley Jacobs, Carlton Baugh Jr, Fidel Edwards, Tino Best, Jermaine Lawson, Pedro Collins, Ravi Rampaul and Omari Banks.
Reserves: Corey Collymore, Dwight Washington and Ricardo Powell.