New Spinner In Squad Selected For First Test (26 November 1998)

26 November 1998

New Spinner In Squad Selected For First Test

The Barbados Nation

JOHANNESBURG - West Indies last night included a player who had not yet arrived in the country among the 12 for the first Test against South Africa, starting at the Wanderers Stadium this morning.

So keen to balance their attack with a leg-spinner on a dry pitch they believe is likely to turn, they included Rawl Lewis in the squad even though he was not scheduled in Johannesburg on a flight from Mumbai in India until 7:45 a.m. a mere 2 3/4 hours before the first ball is bowled.

Lewis, flown in as a replacement for injured first-choice leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine, should be even more match-ready than the players already here.

He has been bowling for West Indies "A" team on its current tour of Bangladesh and India that immediately followed the Wills International Cup limited-overs tournament in Bangladesh in which he also played.

If they have an overnight change of mind, or Lewis is too jet-lagged to perform properly, the selectors will revert to the traditional policy of four fast bowlers.

They have preferred Franklyn Rose over Merv Dillon as the fourth after Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Nixon McLean.

As expected, Stuart Williams, who has opened or batted No. 3 in his previous 26 Tests, has been given the No. 6 position ahead of Daren Ganga, the 19-year-old Trinidadian on his first tour, and the left-handed Floyd Reifer who, like Lewis, was despatched from the "A" team in India as replacement for the injured Jimmy Adams.

Ridley Jacobs, the Leeward Islands' left-handed batsman and wicket-keeper from Antigua, gets his first Test cap at the age of 31, gaining his place over Junior Murray.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)