Tony Becca - ON THE BOUNDARYTHE PRELIMINARY round of the Busta Series is over, Jamaica have won the Busta Cup, defending champions Jamaica, Guyana, the Leeward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago are preparing for the semi-finals of the Busta International Shield, and the West Indies selectors are now meeting in Bridgetown.
The selectors are meeting to select a squad of some 20 players who will be attending a one-week camp in preparation for the Test and One-day series against India, and following the West Indies performance against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and the performances in the Busta Series, it will be interesting to see who will be selected.
It will be interesting for two reasons.
The first reason is this: apart from their dismal performance with the bat, their poor fielding and in some cases their injury record, most of those who represented the West Indies as pace bowlers in those two series do not have neither the speed nor the skill to be Test bowlers and should be replaced.
The second reason is this: some of the outstanding performances in the Busta Series were by older players who have been there and there are many, including selectors, who believe that the answer to the West Indies problem lies in the selection of youth.
Based on reason number one, every effort should be made to find some young and really fast bowlers with fire and aggression plus the desire to succeed and the appetite to work hard for success, and based on those I have seen this season, there are certainly two worth looking at now.
Daren Powell of Jamaica and Tino Best of Barbados are the two, both should be in a squad of 20, and Powell, a few weeks short of his 24th birthday and matured, should be pencilled in for the XI.
Powell and Best may not yet possess the pace of the giants of yesterday. They are, however, fast bowlers, they appear to enjoy bowling fast, and because of that, they will become faster.
It is Andy Roberts, one of the fastest, one of the best, who said recently that although there are the few who bowl fast, really fast, at an early age, fast bowlers are not at their fastest until somewhere between age 26 and 28.
According to Roberts, it is then that they explode.
If Powell and Best start now, and if the Gods smile on them, they will be well experienced by the time they can bowl really fast. On top of that, although the pitches in the region are not as fast as they used to be, the Indians may be the right batsmen against whom to start.
Based on reason number two, older players should not be recalled. If, however, there is a need, older players are performing, and younger players are not, then older players should be recalled.
Right now, for example, West Indies wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs looks a tired man, there should be someone to cover for him, and based on skill and performance, that man should be Junior Murray - even though he is 34 years old and much older than one like Keith Hibbert.
The fact, however, is that Test cricket should be for the best, and while Hibbert may develop down the road, his wicketkeeping has never been brilliant, so far this season it has been poor, he has dropped a number of catches and missed some stumpings, and but for a fine performance against the Leeward Islands, his batting has been ordinary.
From all reports, however, Murray was good behind the wicket and if the reports are true, the man with a Test century and a first-class double century to his credit, the man who has continued to perform behind the wicket and in front of it for the Windward Islands, and the man who scored 642 runs with four centuries this season, deserves to be Jacobs' deputy.
It is good to look for youngsters and if it is close they should always get the opportunity. Performance should be the guide to selection, however, and if the Busta Series is to have any importance in West Indies cricket, if it is to be of any value to West Indies cricket, and if it is worthy of being sponsored, the second wicketkeeper to the preparation camp should be Murray.
Players like veteran Stuart Williams, who scored 722 runs, Gareth Breese, who scored 360 and took 35 wickets, and young Devon Smith, who scored 750 runs, all deserve consideration. While it could be difficult for Williams and Smith because of Gayle and Ganga, however, and for Breese because of the opposition, there is no one or anything preventing the call up of Daren Powell and the recall of Murray.
