December 04, 2006	Monday	Ziqa'ad 12, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, Dec 3: Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, who has been struggling of late, received a major boost of confidence from former West Indies great Jeffrey Dujon on Sunday.

Dujon, regarded as the best wicket-keeper/batsman to represent West Indies in international cricket during the last century, described Kamran as good talent while predicting a bright future for the 25-year-old whose keeping in recent months has come under fire from various quarters.

Dujon, who is here as a TV commentator, however, lamented that in the present era the wicketkeepers have not been setting standards which could be high enough to match the best.

“In the modern era it’s tough really to judge an out and out wicket-keeper on his abilities with the gloves. Now you look at wicket-keeper-batsmen. The records show that someone like Australia’s Adam Gilchrist is best in the world because he makes a lot of runs and is competent enough to keep wickets to the Aussie bowlers,” the West Indian legend observed.

“But Gilchrist is now his mid-30s and there are younger ‘keepers around the world who have the potential to be in that kind of bracket. Kamran Akmal is a good batsman and his wicket-keeping is gradually improving.

“Then there is India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is a young ‘keeper and needs time to improve as well. But in terms of sheer wicketkeeping skills, I don’t think there is anyone who would get into a Test team on that ability alone.”

Dujon, who scored 3322 runs and made 272 dismissals, including 267 catches in a 81-Test career between 1981 and 1991, claimed Wasim Bari, the former captain and current chairman of selectors, as the finest wicketkeeper to represent Pakistan.

“There is no doubt that Wasim Bari was the best Pakistani wicketkeeper I ever saw. You don’t have to go any further. Rashid Latif was also competent although I didn’t see a lot of him. But in terms of just glovesmanship, I haven’t seen a wicket-keeper from Pakistan better than Bari.”

Dujon acknowledged that West Indies are struggling in Test cricket at present because they don’t have the firepower in the bowling department despite the emergence of Jerome Taylor as potential strike bowler.

“Jerome is just developing and I think West Indies still need to find a good bowling attack to win Test matches. I don’t think the bowling strength they have at the moment is really going to bowl out too many teams on good pitches more than once,” he pointed out.

On the forthcoming one-day series, Dujon, who also played in 169 One-day Internationals in which he claimed 204 victims (183 catches and 21 stumpings) apart from making 1945 runs, said West ŠIndies would do well against Pakistan provided the pitches are better prepared.

“I do think they (West Indies) would be able to compete in the one-day series. But then a lot of will depend on the type of surfaces they play on. If the pitches are dead and unresponsive as they were in the Test series, then the cricket is going to be just as dead and unresponsive,” he feared.

“So let us hope we get good cricket wickets where players can play all their shots and the bowlers show their skills. Then I think we’ll have a good one-day series.”

On the subject of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, which is being hosted by West Indies in March and April, Dujon hoped the region would perform better than expected by many.

“The World Cup is still sometime away but judging by what they did in the ICC Champions Trophy (in India); I think the West Indies have as good a chance as anyone else.

Dujon minced no words in stating that the pitches in the just concluded Test series was a poor advertisement for the future of Test cricket.

“Playing on low-bouncing pitches really achieve nothing. Wickets like the ones we had during the Test series is one of the reasons why people keep saying that Test cricket is dying. Nobody wants to come for five days and sit down and watch the ball passing batsman’s ankles all day.

“People want to see good cricket. They want to see the bowlers being able to use all their deliveries and the batsmen being able to play all their strokes.

“If you are restricted from the very first day because the ball does not bounce enough then preparing wickets for Test cricket like in the recent series I think is a little bit ridiculous,” he complained.