Tony Becca

THE WEST Indies have announced a 15-man squad for a two-match one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and they have also announced a 15-man squad for a two-match Test series against New Zealand in New Zealand.

The difference in the two squads is that three players, batsman Shawn Findlay and left-arm spinners Nikita Miller and Dave Mohammed, who are in the one-day contest against Pakistan will not be in the squad for New Zealand. They will be replaced by a wicketkeeper, a left-arm spin bowler and a fast bowler, and many are wondering if the selectors, Messrs Clyde Butts, Raphick Jumadeen and Robert Haynes, have lost their marbles.

But for one selection, I do not believe so, and I do not believe so for a few simple reasons.

Reason number one is that I have always believed that in recent times, when you take away batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, as well as pace bowlers Jerome Taylor and, to an extent, Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell, there are about 20 players in the region who are on par. They are batsmen whose first-class and/or Test batting averages are in the 20s or low 30s, bowlers whose bowling averages are in the 30s and 40s, that includes, despite his special talent as a batsman, Marlon Samuels, and in my opinion, that means that the selectors can select anyone without worrying about their conscience.

Reason number two is that there are some players who are better suited for one-day cricket than for Test cricket and vice versa and if the selectors believe, for example, that Sulieman Benn is better for the West Indies in Tests than Miller or Mohammed, that Brendan Nash, who was dropped from the Jamaica one-day team, will be an asset in both the one-day and Test versions of the game, and that Edwards is not good enough for the one-day version, or is not better than Lionel Baker or Kemar Roach, then so be it.

Although there will be only two Test matches in New Zealand, even though there are only 15 players in the squad, reason number three is that I have always believed that to be fair to both players, to give them an equal opportunity to show their worth, not only that Denesh Ramdin should have been the wicketkeeper on the Test team for a start and that Carlton Baugh Jnr should have been the wicketkeeper on the one-day team, but also that the West Indies squad for a Test series should include two wicketkeepers.

Inexperienced

That was the case in days gone by, certainly so during the days of Gerry Alexander and Jackie Hendriks, David Allen and Deryck Allen, Deryck Murray and David Murray, David Murray and Randy Lyon and, up to a few years ago, when Ridley Jacobs had a young, inexperienced Baugh looking over his shoulders.

It seems only logical that if there is a need for reserve batsmen and for reserve bowlers, there should be need for a reserve wicketkeeper if only, and apart from injury, to keep the number one on his toes, not only with the gloves, but also the bat.

The one selection which puzzles me is that of pace bowler Baker, and it does for one simple reason.

With the selection of Sonny Ramadhin and Alfred Valentine in 1950, of Wes Hall in 1957, of Michael Holding in 1975, although it was under unusual circumstances, of Malcolm Marshall in 1978, and more recently of Edwards and Taylor, West Indies cricket is not a stranger to surprise selections - to selecting players after one, two or three first-class matches, some of them, most of them, without even one performance to suggest greatness in the not too distant future.

Youth tournaments

Selecting a young man on talent, however, a young man who has performed in youth tournaments, is one thing, and especially so in times of need - of desperation so to speak.

Selecting a not so young man who has played in first-class cricket and has not performed is something else all together and that is why, while I can go along with the selection of Roach, I find it difficult to agree with the selection of Baker.

Roach is 20 years old, he bowled well while a member of the most recent West Indies youth team, he has played two one-day matches, four first first-class matches, and one 20/20 international, and so if a selector, or a set of selectors, grasping at straws, sees something special in him and selects him while hoping and praying, that, in a way, is OK with me.

One-day matches

Baker is 24 years old and, although he played West Indies Youth cricket - even though he did quite well, that was four years ago and since that time he has played only 11 first-class matches and taken only 18 wickets at an average of 46.50.

On top of that, the man from Montserrat, the man who has played only in Warwickshire's second XI and has now signed for Leicestershire, has played only nine one-day matches while taking seven wickets at an average of 52.42.

It seems strange, therefore, that he is not only in one of the two teams but also, and more so, that he is both teams for the assignments against Pakistan and New Zealand, and especially so as Edwards will not be in Pakistan.