Tony Becca
THE NATIONAL selectors on Sunday announced a squad of 16 players from which, depending on the composition of the West Indies team to Australia, Jamaica's team for the first match in the 2005 Carib Beer Series will be selected, and so far, so good.
Based on the regulations governing the series which will consist of home and away matches for a total of 10 matches per team, changes can be made to the squad from time to time, and according to selection committee chairman Ruddy Williams, the list will be revisited, particularly if and when injured fast bowlers Jermaine Lawson, Andrew Richardson and Evon McInnis and all-rounder Gareth Breese recover enough to be considered for selection.
Remembering that Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Xavier Marshall and Dwight Washington attended the West Indies camp in preparation for the triangular tournament in Australia, that the West Indies team is scheduled to leave for Australia on December 29, and that the regional tournament gets under way on January 7, it also means that if any one of the five fails to get into the West Indies team, he will be available for selection.
PERFORMANCES
Looking at performances in both the recent club season and the set of practice matches, plus the performance of players like Tamar Lambert, Maurice Kepple and Danza Hyatt in the last Carib Beer Series, the selectors' job was pretty easy.
The only player who is not on the list and who probably should have been on it is batsman Brenton Parchment, and although he failed to perform in what, according to the selectors, were practice matches and not trial matches, they must have pondered long and hard before omitting him - just as they must have done before including two left-arm spinners in Nikita Miller and Ryan Cunningham.
The inclusion of two left-arm spinners is, in fact, quite interesting - and not only because that may have been the reason for Parchment's omission or because the selectors probably could not decide between Miller, who has been enjoying a good year, and Cunningham, who, despite looking far from himself during the practice matches, bowled well for Jamaica in partnership with Breese for two seasons.
What is interesting about the selection of both Miller and Cunningham is that with right-arm legspinner Odean Brown and offspinner Bevan Brown also included, there are four spin bowlers in the squad, and without counting all-rounder David Bernard, only three fast bowlers in Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell and Dwight Stewart.
With Lawson and Richardson out of action, Washington unavailable, certainly at the time of selection, and Powell far from his best, is it that Jamaica have no confidence in the fast bowlers?
Although that may well be the case, that also may not be so.
Historically the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands and Barbados are suspect to spin bowling - to good spin bowling that is, a look at the fixtures shows that Jamaica's first three matches will be against the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands and Barbados, and may be, just may be, the selectors have decided, or are seriously contemplating, attacking them with spin.
With Lawson and Richardson fit, the selectors may well have stuck to the norm and select an attack of three or four fast bowlers, Bernard, and a spin bowler or two.
It is a good bet, however, that Jamaica's attack against the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands and Barbados will be two fast bowlers in Taylor and Powell, one medium-fast bowler in Bernard, and three spinners in Odean Brown, Bevan Brown, and either Miller or Cunningham.
An attack like that will certainly be a test for Lambert, who has been selected as the stand-in captain.
The selectors, it is understood, have recommended to the Board that Hinds should replace Breese as the captain, and if their recommendation is accepted, Hinds, who is expected to be in the West Indies team to Australia, will take over for the second half of the tournament.
There could be another stand-in captain before Hinds returns however.
The selectors, it is also understood, will be paying close attention to Lambert's captaincy during the first few matches and that means he could be replaced if he is found wanting.
With Bernard failing to impress as a captain during two practice matches to the point where he was replaced for the last one, however, with Carlton Baugh apparently and understandably preferring to concentrate on his batting and on his wicketkeeping, the question is this: who else could the selectors be looking at?
