West Indies turmoil catches (11 March 1999)

11 March 1999

West Indies turmoil catches

Peter Deeley in Kingston

Nothing more typifies the disarray in West Indies cricket than the selectors' inability even to announce the right team for the second Test against Australia starting here on Saturday.

There was something almost biblical about the way in which the lame were healed and the fit made unwell by the selectors. It was not until midnight on Tuesday, several hours after a cricket board source had announced one side, that another 13-man party was made public.

First, it was said Curtly Ambrose had been ruled out because of knee troubles but that Shivnarine Chanderpaul had now recovered from his shoulder injury and would be able to play.

Lo and behold, by next morning Ambrose was wandering about the hotel wondering what the fuss was all about, while Chanderpaul had contacted the selectors to say his shoulder was very sore, he was unable to throw from the deep, and he would prefer to miss the Kingston game.

It is still by no means certain Ambrose will play because his knees are playing up but he is at least now in the group. Chanderpaul, who only a few hours before was scoring 90 in a local game while West Indies batsmen nose-dived at Port of Spain, is definitely not in the line-up if anything is certain in these parts nowadays.

It was the wee small hours when Darren Ganga, another Trinidadian, was contacted at his home and told to be on the morning flight yesterday to Jamaica as Chanderpaul's replacement. Ganga, who is 20 and has twice played for West Indies, impressed when he batted against Australia in a warm-up game before the Port of Spain Test.

One reason for the mix-up was that while the team were chosen and announced from board headquarters in Antigua, some selectors, notably Brian Lara, were hundreds of miles away in Trinidad.

Apparently, those decision-makers in Antigua were not in possession of up-to-the-minute information about the injury problems affecting Ambrose and Chanderpaul but by any measure it was a bloomer of the first order.

Manager Clive Lloyd, who is not a selector, said it had been "a hectic night" and we could still be in for more twists and turns before the team is announced.

West Indies (from): *B C Lara, S L Campbell, S Ragoonath, L A Joseph, J C Adams, D Ganga, +R D Jacobs, N O Perry, P T Collins, C A Walsh, C E L Ambrose, R D King, L A Roberts.

Australia (probable): *S R Waugh, M T G Elliot, M J Slater, J L Langer, M E Waugh, G S Blewett, +I A Healy, S K Warne, J N Gillespie, S C G MacGill, G D McGrath.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)