WICB Selection Time

While the big wigs of the International Cricket Council (ICC) were grappling with the problems of match-fixing and palm-greasing in London yesterday, the cricket committee of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was dealing with less sordid, more ordinary issues in Antigua.

The main item on its agenda was the choice of selectors for both senior and Under-19 West Indies teams for the next two years.

The terms of the present panels - chairman Mike Findlay, Joey Carew and Joel Garner for the seniors; chairman Garner, Jeff Dujon and Clyde Butts for the Under-19s - end at the WICB's annual general meeting in Georgetown, May 11-12.

The cricket coaches, Roger Harper and Gus Logie, are automatic, ex-officio members of the respective panels.

The cricket committee - headed by former Jamaica and West Indies wicket-keeper Jackie Hendricks and including former Test players Sir Everton Weekes, David Holford and Bryan Davis - was established three years ago to advise the main board of cricketing matters.

After considering nominations for the selectors put forward by the WICB's member boards, the committee would forward its recommendations the full meeting in Georgetown for ratification.

According to reliable sources, all the incumbents have been nominated but several other new names have been put forward.

The most prominent among them are reportedly Sir Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, now chairman of the Barbados selectors.

Reports from the WICB director of coaching, Reg Scarlett, and from managers and coaches of the teams in the Test and One-Day International series in New Zealand last December and January and the 'A' home series against India 'A' last November were among other subjects for discussion.