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| June 18, 2006 | Sunday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1427 |
Selectors reject Lara’s plea for pace
ST JOHN'S (Antigua), June 17: An appeal from West Indies captain Brian Lara for more teeth in his bowling attack has again fallen on deaf ears.
The West Indies selection panel, comprising convenor Joey Carew, Gordon Greenidge, Clyde Butts, and head coach Bennett King, have retained all but one of the players that formed the squad in St Lucia for the second Test.
This means that Lara's request of the selection committee to pick a fast bowler of genuine pace to replace the injured Fidel Edwards was unheeded, and he will have to make the most of Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Ian Bradshaw, and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.
All five seam bowlers played in the second Test that ended on Wednesday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground, where India flayed 588 for eight declared, with Virender Sehwag smashing 180, Mohammad Kaif scoring 148 not out, and skipper Rahul Dravid collecting 146.
Lara told reporters after the Test in St Lucia that he had spoken to the selectors and he was getting a negative feedback to his appeal for a fast bowler capable of delivering at 90 miles an hour or higher.
Like many of his counterparts around the world, Lara is not a member of the selection committee, and he noted that he can only make suggestions about what he requires to fashion a successful side.
Lara observed that the batsmen in the Indian side disliked the ball which bounces above waist high, and he felt he needed a genuine fast bowler to exploit this area of weakness.
The only change to the squad of 13 that was announced late on Friday sees batsman Marlon Samuels replacing left-arm chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed.
Samuels, who offers a bit of variety with his off-spin darts, was selected in the squad for the first Test, but did not play.
Mohammed however, played in the first Test and gave the attack a bit of variety, but hardly distinguished himself. He failed to gain selection in the final XI for the second Test, although he was named in the squad.
Opening batsman Daren Ganga can also count himself fortunate to have regained his place in the squad, after a string of modest scores in the series.
The four-Test series is still level at 0-0, after the first two Tests at St. John's and Gros Islet both ended in tension-filled draws.
The third Test –the first to be held at Basseterre in St Kitts – will be contested from June 22 and 26, and Kingston stages the fourth and final Test from June 30 to July 4.
Squad: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice captain), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Runako Morton, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor.—AFP
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