‘Young pacers getting raw deal'

Two former West Indies Test cricketers have questioned aspects of the selectors' policy in grooming fast bowlers to take over from Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Michael Holding, himself one of the finest fast bowlers of all time, has cautioned against a lot of chopping and changing to give all the candidates a chance.

Bryan Davis, the Test opener of the 1960s who is now Trinidad and Tobago coach, disagreed with the stated plan of chairman of selectors, Mike Findlay, to alternate Ambrose and Walsh so as to bring on their replacements.

Both were writing in the latest edition of the Red Stripe Caribbean Cricket Quarterly, released in Barbados yesterday.

In his regular column, Off The Long Run, Holding pointed out that seven bowlers Merv Dillon, Franklyn Rose, Nixon McLean, Reon King, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore and Hendy Bryan had been tried as back-ups to Ambrose and Walsh in the past year.

None has yet secured a regular place in either the Test or the One-Day team, so no one knows where he stands, Holding added.

It is no way to build up their confidence so that they are mentally ready to step forward once the two old stalwarts make way.

He argued that, since many have been around for some time, the selectors must know what their pecking order is by now.

They should stick by it and give those they rate the best the confidence of a settled place, he advised.

Davis noted that none of those he calls the assistant fast bowlers had been dependable or had guaranteed a permanent position in the team.

Acknowledging that it sounds paradoxical, he put this down to the presence of Ambrose and Walsh.

They are measuring their performances by the standards of the two most overpowering fast bowlers the game has known, a standard which they cannot realistically hope to achieve at this stage of their advancement,Davis wrote.

Leaving them constantly in the shadow of Ambrose and Walsh only serves to depress them and their corresponding lack of self-esteem reduces the level of their performance and their true ability will not surface, he added.

Davis argued that selectorial phasing out is wrong in any situation batting, bowling of wicket-keeping.

I urge Mike Findlay and his panel to take the bull by the horns and show the young fast bowlers that they believe in them, that they can do the job and that they have full responsibility to carry the West Indies to the top of the world in the new century, he wrote.

The tour of New Zealand in December and January would be a great place to start, he stated