WI lcoal : Talent drought

Chairman of selectors Mike Findlay would like to see a proper foundation created to prepare potential regional cricketers for the future. Findlay's comments came yesterday on a Voice Of Barbados (VOB) radio discussion programme during which he lamented the poor standard of cricket in the Caribbean.

"Anyone who had seen the Red Stripe Bowl this year or had listened on radio would have recognised the low standard of cricket in the Caribbean, and West Indies cricket is as strong as cricket in the territories."

The former West Indies wicket-keeper agreed with former batting supremo, Sir Everton Weekes, that a problem for the selectors was a question of the quality of talent that was available. "It is here that we draw from the reservoir for West Indies cricket and if in the territories the standard is low automatically when we select the best on display in the territories invariably they will not match up to the international standard. That's what is happening to us now."

Findlay said it was evident during the tour of South Africa in 1998 when compared to the professionalism of the South African players; again in England this year and on the present tour of Australia.

He pointed out that the problem could stem from the fact that regional players were not exposed as they were long ago to the county scene, which moulded the players into hard professionals.

"We don't have that reservoir any more to build our players and to make them hard core professionals.

"So we have to work together to put a programme that's going to be followed throughout the nook and crannies of the Caribbean. Not at the top only. We've got to build on the foundation. We have got to go right back to the schools."