Franklyn Rose - Nothing but the truth (15 Apr 1998)

April 15, 1998

Nothing but the truth

Tony Becca

CRICKET: Jamaica and West Indies fast bowler Franklyn Rose is once again the focus of attention and the subject of discussions around the country. Almost everywhere one goes the question is the same - what is happening to Rose?

As far as his omission from the Jamaica team now on tour is concerned, only Rose can answer that. He was selected in the squad and then dropped on the eve of the team's departure not because he failed to turn out for training but according to representatives of the board and its selection committee, because when he was finally contacted and asked about his absence from training he reported an injury to his ankle, was asked to attend a fitness test, failed to do so, was asked again, and again failed to do so.

As far as his non selection on the West Indies team for the first five Test matches of the series against England is concerned, that is a different matter, and although he is not a member of the West Indies selection committee, probably only Chester Watson, the chairman of the Jamaica selection committee, can answer that.

Regardless of his performance against India in his debut series and what Jamaicans think, Rose could not have been considered a 'sure pick' for the first Test against England - not after his performance Sri Lanka and then against Pakistan, and apart from the presence of Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, plus Ian Bishop and the possibility that new captain Brian Lara may have wanted a spin bowler in the team, not with Nixon McLean and Mervyn Dillon around.

Rose however, was ahead of McLean and Dillon in the line, he could have demanded a place by a good or outstanding performance for Jamaica against England in the opening tour match at Jarrett Park and the pitch was such that he may well have done so. The question therefore is why was Rose omitted from that game?

That is the question Watson must answer.

When the Jamaica team for the match was announced, Watson, replying to a question asked by me over the telephone as to the reason for Rose's omission, said that Rose was not selected following a request from the West Indies selectors - and that was reported in the following day's Gleaner, January 14, under the headline "No Rose for MoBay warmup".

There was no denial of that report.

In the weeks which followed, the continued omission of Rose from the West Indies team was accompanied by questions in the media as to the logic behind the West Indies selectors requesting that Rose not play for Jamaica against England and then not selecting him on the West Indies team.

On the fourth day of the sixth Test match in Antigua - Monday, March 23, Wes Hall, chairman of the West Indies selection committee, denied making such a request. "That is news to me," said Hall. "I had no such discussions with Chester."

Why did Hall take so long to deny it? Because, according to him, he did not know that that was being said until Pat Rousseau, the president of the West Indies Board, asked him about it.

More importantly however, is this? Why didn't Watson clear the air before Hall's denial?

According to Hall, Watson said to him during the Jamaica/Barbados President's Cup match that he was thinking of playing youngsters Oneil Richards and Kirk Powell and resting Walsh and Rose, and he in turn said to him that it is their business and the Jamaica selectors can do whatever they wanted to do.

Hall also said he reminded Watson of the previous year when he requested, on behalf of the West Indies selectors, that the Jamaica selectors select wicketkeeper Andre Coley for the final Red Stripe Cup match against Barbados so that they could have a look at him, they ignored him.

So why did Jamaica go ahead and rest Rose? Because, according to Watson, speaking to me after Hall's denial, he believed that in saying what he did, Hall had agreed to his suggestion of playing Richards and Powell and resting Walsh and Rose.

Apart from the fact that based on what was said, Hall, who was still angry over the way the West Indies request of the previous year was treated, did not want to get involved and did not say yes, and remembering that usually such a suggestion, such a request comes from the West Indies selectors, the question, even if there was a genuine misunderstanding of what Hall said, is this: why did Watson even approach Hall with a suggestion to rest Rose?

That is the question which Watson must answer.

Rose, a professional cricketer who took only three wickets at a cost of 140 runs in two of the three Test matches in Pakistan, was not a 'sure pick' for the first Test against England and he should have been selected for the Jamaica/England match. That was one of his chances to prove to the West Indies selectors that he deserved a place on the West Indies team, and although Watson said it and is now denying it, since the West Indies selectors did not request that he be rested, the Jamaica selectors had no right denying him that opportunity.

The Board should also find out what Watson told his fellow selectors when they met to select the team for that match.

In asking what is happening to Franklyn Rose, the fans should also ask what is happening to Chester Watson.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)