Walsh keen to help young guns

BRIDGETOWN: Courtney Walsh, Test’s cricket most successful bowler with 519 wickets, has lamented the state of the pitches in the Caribbean.

But the former West Indies captain and champion fast bowler says he is willing to assist the emerging fast bowlers in the region. “Obviously, you want to play on good cricket pitches for the sake of cricket, and I think the Caribbean pitches have gone too flat and it is taking away that edge because the bat has been dominating,” Walsh told the Mid-Week Nation. “Bowlers have been getting wickets and doing well still, but the batsmen overall have been dominating,” added Walsh, who answered a call from new coach, Gus Logie, and attended the West Indies’ net practice at the 3Ws Oval on the eve of the Third Test against Australia.

One of the observations Walsh made while watching the current Test series against Australia was that West Indian bowlers needed to maintain good line and length and also to assess pitch conditions. “The consistency has not been as good as they would have liked. Then again, that is inexperience, plus the surface they have been playing on. I don’t think they are assessing it as quickly as they should,” Walsh said. He said he had passed on a few tips to the present West Indian fast bowlers while having a work-out with the team ahead of the Third Test. “You are against the No 1 team in the world so you don’t really have a lot of margin for error. So I’m just trying to get them to tighten up their own game and hope that the team can benefit from that,” Walsh said.

Walsh reiterated his desire to help and said other past cricketers should also come forward to assist Logie, who was a specialist middle-order batsman for Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies. “I spoke to Gus when I was in Trinidad and he said, ‘Feel free to come around and help the guys.’ That is something that you would like to do and like to see happen because I think all of us can or should try to help West Indies cricket,” Walsh said. Walsh said he has seen some encouraging signs among the bowlers but reckons the young fast bowlers need exposure. He is confident West Indies cricket can rise again. “In the next two years, I think we can rise because I am very comfortable and confident with the way the batting is going and the number of batsmen we are seeing coming through.”