WI selectors: Well served, Wes (5 May 1998)

May 5, 1998

Well served, Wes

Tony Becca

CRICKET: When the West Indies Cricket Board names its new selection panel during this month's annual general meeting in Grenada, Wes Hall will not be on it. Not surprisingly, "Big Wes", as he was called during the years when he terrorised batsmen around the world, has decided to call it a day after two years as chairman.

According to the release issued by the WICB, Hall decided to step down from one of the most important positions in West Indies cricket because of business commitments, and as the Director of Corporate Relations at Sandals Resorts International that is understandable.

The job as a West Indies selector is a thankless one. Like others before them, Hall and colleagues Joey Carew and Michael Findlay have been the target of criticisms around the region, and it is possible that he decided that enough is enough.

Whatever the reason or reasons for his decision, the former great fast bowler, who also served West Indies cricket as manager, did a good job as chairman of the selection committee. He made mistakes, no question about that, but so did many before him, and remembering that the selection of a cricket team is one of the most difficult jobs in sport, so will others after him.

What is important is that after a distinguished career, Hall had the desire to serve, that he found the time to serve - thanks to Sandals - and that he served well.

On top of that, as the chairman of a West Indies selection committee which selected not only a right-arm legspinner to play an important role in a West Indies attack, which not only dropped both opening batsmen at the same time but which was also bold enough to replace them with two like Philo Wallace and the aging Clayton Lambert, Hall deserves high praise.

Based on the reaction of fans around the region to their selection, had Wallace and Lambert failed to perform - especially Wallace who was an unpopular selection to Pakistan and who looked out of his depth during that series - Hall and company would have had to run for cover. Wallace and Lambert not only performed but they did so with a brilliance that had the fans cheering and recalling the glory days of West Indian batsmanship.

As Hall leaves the scene, the question is who will replace him as chairman. Logically, and for continuity, it should be Carew or Findlay, and based on a report coming out of Trinidad and Tobago, Carew, who has been there before, would welcome another term. And no doubt Findlay would like a shot at being the chairman.

The reading of the situation, however, is that not only will neither one be elevated to that position, but that both will be replaced. The Board, it is understood, is looking for younger selectors, and if it is true that the four in contention are Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Jeffrey Dujon, and Clyde Butts, then the next chairman could be Roberts - the man who followed Hall in the line of great West Indies fast bowlers and who, unlike Garner, Dujon and Butts, has served as a West Indies selector and therefore would be the one of experience.

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