South Africa Vs West Indies - Are West Indies Selectors Making Way for a Possible Brian Lara Return?

The just concluded West Indies vs. South Africa 2nd Cricket Test Match, which South Africa obligingly accepted and evened the series is an interesting case study of cricketing chess-if there is such a game. The West Indies won the first test in convincing manner and looked very much like the winning West Indies of yesteryear. What followed is not good cricket, but something else.

In the first test, under their new captain Chris Gayle, they attacked from the opening ball and outplayed South Africa in both innings with convincing batting and with hostile and accurate bowling. There were minor collapses on both sides. Good game all around.

The first surprise in the second test was the omitting of Darren Sammy, one of the most promising West Indian bowlers. He is young, strong, and talented with the bat--very close to being designated as an allrounder. In his place they put Rawl Lewis, a suspect spin bowler with one of the worst test records. The Caribbean's current international test spinner is Omari Banks. He never lost his test place. Up to the time of his only injury, he had performed exceptionally well with bat and ball. Had the West Indies really needed a spinner, they could have called for their tested and proven test match winner, Omari Banks.

Here is what Rob Smyth, Cricinfo Columnist wrote on Cricinfo's website on February 2006 about Lewis. "Legspinner Rawl Lewis had an undistinguished entry to Test cricket. In his three Tests for West Indies, he bowled 97.3 overs. Of those 585 balls, only one brought him a wicket, that of South Africa's wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, caught by Brian Lara at Johannesburg in 1998-99. That single strike has cost Lewis 318 runs. For a time he captained Windward Islands in the Red Stripe Bowl but rather than develop as a player as he got older, his form dropped away. He looked destined to go down in history as one of the most ineffective bowlers in Test history until he got a second chance when he was picked for the 2006 tour of New Zealand. He came into contention on the basis of decent performances at the domestic level. In the 2005-06 first-class season he picked 24 wickets at 17.54 and in the season before that he grabbed 32 wickets at 26.43."

On the other hand, Darren Sammy, the 24-year old St. Lucian had played two tests. In his first test in England last year, he bowled 17 overs, of which 7 were maidens; he gave up 32 runs and bagged one wicket. He had the best bowling average (1.80) of all the West Indian bowlers. Darren Sammy played in the winning South African first test. In the second test, the wicket favoured seam bowling. As a rule, cricket teams do not change winning combinations. In the first test, Sammy bowled 4 overs in the first innings, of which two were maidens, and he conceded 6 runs. With the bat he made 38 before being run out. In the second innings he was LBW for 6 runs. In the second innings, his 7 overs cost him 29 runs; however he claimed one wicket when it mattered. His side won the test.

I have my own views on the politics behind Darren Sammy's exclusion. However, one has to wonder: except in Antigua, Barbados and all the new smaller venues, cricket attendance has dropped in the Caribbean. The demise of cricket means a reduction of status for all those associated with the game: selectors, cricketers and officials. In a media-starved environment, that is not good.

Suddenly, news of former batting star Brian Lara rejoining Trinidad's regional competition is piercing the Caribbean and international new media. Everyone knows that to be eligible for test selection to the Caribbean team, first one has to play for a regional test side. Next, one has to be tops in the category one wants to get selected. Since lately, all the top West Indian batsmen are performing very well, except for opener Darren Ganga, a suspect hooker. In today's game, one must be an expert hooker to be consistent among the runs in an opening position. Even though Nevis showcased two promising youngsters in Kiernon Powell and Tonito Willet during last year's Stanford20/20 Cricket tournament, instead of blooding them for the Caribbean World Cup hosting last year, regional sportswriters and selectors pretended they had not seen them.

Since they continued with the suspect Ganga in the opening position, here is the problem. Ganga's career was pushed with the blessing of Lara when he was captain. Lara does not like to open. He is not only a nervous beginner, but has difficulty with the new ball in his nervous moments. Lara does not bowl. When the wicket favoured swing bowling, had Sammy played, not only could he have made a tremendous difference with injuries to Fidel Edwards and Chris Gayle, but also possibly by now he could have been certified as a legitimate allrounder. Batting and bowling allrounders on a West Indies team are invaluable and very hard to replace because they can help in both batting and bowling departments. Lara is an excellent fielder, superstar and flashy player, and it is no secret that his flashy playing, though many times to the detriment of his other team players, could help to return the large crowds to the stadia. Lara scored a century last week in Trinidad and Tobago's game against Guyana--weeks prior to the biggest Caribbean cricketing extravaganza-- STANFORD 20/20 TOURNAMENT. Lara is automatically eligible for selection to the Trinidad side. A good showing on that international arena, and all the media-starved will be clamouring for his re-instatement. I smell something very Machiavellian here. Was Lewis a pawn in a bigger chess move? Since Chanderpaul is the perfect team player, do not be surprised to see Chanderpaul opening in the next series and Lara returning to the West Indies team.



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