FOR MANY years the West Indies have claimed to be bereft of spinners and so it wasn't surprising, even if unwise, that they went to England without one.

After getting belted all over the park on an easy-paced wicket, the West Indies faced their first at bat in the Test series staring a mammoth 553 runs in the face and it could have been worse.

If you recall, England at the time had two not out centurions at the crease when they declared!

The West Indies batted fairly well for 437 runs in reply and turned the game into one where any of three results were still on the cards even on the final day.

Rain fell and dampened what could have been an exciting match. However, that being said, it is important to note that in the West Indies' turn at bat, Monty Panesar was the man who did all the damage.

His left-arm spin was responsible for the demise of the West Indies' middle order as he claimed the wickets of Daren Ganga, Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton and Corey Collymore.

Liam Plunkett and Stephen Harmison, the quickest bowlers in the English line-up, both went for more than a hundred runs, which suggests to me that the pitch was better suited to the spinners.

However, the West Indies' selectors, in their ultimate wisdom, didn't think it was smart to carry a spinner.

I know the generic arguments, 'hindsight is 20/20 vision', and that there can't be an XI that would suit everyone, especially if you lose, but I'll choose to ignore those.

No world-class sipnners

For a long time West Indian fans have been advocating the use of a spinner and I agree with them.

Then there is, of course, the argument that there aren't any world-class spinners in the Caribbean.

This may be true, but I am of the opinion that there aren't any world-class bowlers in the Caribbean either.

That being the case, it wouldn't hurt to try a spinner at some point. I am also of the opinion that the West Indies won't find a world-class bowler who hasn't gone through much hardship at the Test level and this is no different for a spinner.

The West Indies have been in the habit, in recent times, of giving a spinner a game and when he gets hit all over the park, he's dropped.

This was the case with the present West Indies Players Association (WIPA) president Dinanath Ram-narine, who was only allowed 12 Test matches in a short career that never lasted until his 29th birthday.

Good crop

At one time, the flat trajectory leg-spinner seemed to have a bright future ahead of him, but not after a few average performances. Funnily enough, he ended his career with 45 wickets, not a bad haul for a spinner. There is the argument that his off-the-field role with WIPA led to his demise, but there have been examples of the same thing happening to other spinners.

Presently, there is a good crop of young bowlers for the West Indies to choose from. There is Dave Mohammed from Trinidad and Tobago and there is Amit Jaggernauth, who has taken 116 wickets in just 29 first-class matches.

If the West Indies don't think these guys are ready for the rigours of the Test arena just yet, there is also the veteran Rawl Lewis; there is Ryan Hinds, who has been tested, and, of course, there is Mahendra Nagamootoo.

Thus, the West Indies can have no complaints about having nothing to work with.

My prognosis is, the West Indies have to learn to adapt to the modern game or they'll continue to lose and lose badly. If that means playing with a spinner, then so be it!