Roberts
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
LEGENDARY FORMER West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts could become a West Indies selector again after an absence of more than a decade, while it could be the end for veteran Joey Carew.
Roberts, an Antiguan, is among three new candidates the others are fellow Leeward Islander Derick Parry of Nevis and Dominican Lockhart Sebastien who will join the incumbent trio of convenor Carew, Gordon Greenidge and Clyde Butts as contenders on a panel to serve for the next two years.
Well-placed sources told CMC Sports that the candidates are to be discussed by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) directors by round robin tomorrow before a final decision is made at next Thursday's special meeting of directors at the Accra Beach Hotel on this island's south coast.
According to the sources, the 68-year-old Carew has been supported by only one director, effectively putting him out of the race unless there is a dramatic change of heart by other representatives.
STRONG CONTENDER
The former Trinidad and Tobago captain and West Indies opening batsman has been a member of the selection panel at one time or another since the late 1970s, but during the just concluded four-Test series against India which West Indies lost 1-0, he did not see eye to eye with captain Brian Lara, who is often referred to as his 'son', dating back to Lara's early upbringing.
Roberts, 55, has emerged as a strong contender to regain a place on the panel.
A fearsome pacer who took 202 wickets at 25.61 runs each in 47 Tests, Roberts was a West Indies selector from 1993-95.
Now a member of the WICB's Cricket committee under the chairmanship of outstanding former West Indies captain and middle-order batsman Clive Lloyd, Roberts has also served as a West Indies team manager and coach.
He managed the side for the 1995 home series against Australia and was later coach for 11 months a position which ended after the 1996 World Cup in Asia when then captain Richie Richardson and long-standing trainer, Australian Denis Waight also bowed out.
Parry, 51, is a former West Indies off-spinner who played 12 Tests. He has also served as a West Indies under-19 team selector.
The 50-year-old Sebastien is a former Windward Islands and Combined Islands opening batsman who in recent years has managed Windward Islands teams in the regional Carib Beer first-class and KFC Cup championships.
The ultimate choice of selectors could have a bearing on whether ace batsman Lara continues as captain in his unprecedented third term which started in late April with the seven-match one-day international series against Zimbabwe, won 5-0 by West Indies.
At a press conference in Kingston last Sunday night after West Indies lost by 49 runs to India in three days at Sabina Park - West Indies won the ODI series 4-1 - Lara said he would revisit his role as captain once the new selection was known.
He also just revealed that he had only been informed on the eve of the Test (June 29) that he was a selector one month earlier.
