PORT-OF-SPAIN (Trinidad and Tobago), Dec 31: West Indies must go back to square one in an attempt to discover fresh pace bowling talent, according to coach Roger Harper.

Harper, speaking in the wake of the team’s 3-0 Test series defeat in Sri Lanka, said: “The first thing that we must do is to start a very serious campaign for bowlers.

“We have to find players with the right build and athleticism, then harness those into the rudiments of fast bowling.”

West Indies have been in gradual decline since their domination of the sport — mainly through their pace bowlers — in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The last in the line, however, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, have retired in the last 16 months. Walsh, the holder of the world record for test wickets with 519, played his last Test against South Africa in April 2001.

Harper, looking back at the Sri Lankan Test tour which ended in December, told reporters: “We did not bowl well at all in the Tests, and allowed Sri Lanka to take control with their batting.

“That, however, is not the only worry about the team. We have to look at each area of our cricket and work at the entire development of West Indies cricket.”

West Indies’ pace bowling options in Sri Lanka were not helped by spearhead Reon King being ruled out of the tour without playing a Test with a hernia problem while Mervyn Dillon — the most successful quick of the party with nine wickets at 42.11 — was sent home later in the tour.

He had refused to train because he was worried over player safety during the Sri Lankan elections.

Team manager Ricky Skerritt echoed Harper’s concerns about the team’s bowling resources.

“There is no stability at all in our team. For whatever reasons, we have used 17 or 18 bowlers in the last 18 months, so no players have been able to constantly keep their place, hence no gradual improvement.”—Reuters