da imperador bet： While emphasising that they had not abandoned their policy ofrebuilding, the West Indies cricket selectors yesterday included twoalmost forgotten over-30s in a 22-man training squad in preparationfor the home series against India
Haydn Gill14-Mar-2002While emphasising that they had not abandoned their policy ofrebuilding, the West Indies cricket selectors yesterday included twoalmost forgotten over-30s in a 22-man training squad in preparationfor the home series against India.Junior Murray, the 34-year-old Grenadian wicket-keeper/batsman, andStuart Williams, the 32-year-old Nevisian opening batsmen, both ofwhom last played Test cricket on the 1998-99 tour of South Africa,were called up on the strength of outstanding performances in thecurrent Busta Series.The rebuilding process doesn’t mean that you go all youth. You pick ateam that you think has balance, chief selector Mike Findlay toldNATIONSPORT last night.Anybody who played in the Busta championship is eligible for selectionto the West Indies team. They [Murray and Williams] performed well andtheir performances warranted selection.Williams, whose previous 28 Tests yielded modest returns (1 092 runs,ave. 24.26), has been in rich form this season, reeling off 722 runsat an average of 72.20.Murray, who played in 31 Tests and 55 One-Day Internationals, hasbecome only the third player to score four centuries in a regionalfirst-class tournament on the way to 642 runs (ave. 53.50).Findlay, however, pointed out that the pair’s inclusion did not signala departure from the selectors’ goal of looking to the future.There are a few players there, who, although they are not youngsters,given the standard of West Indies’ cricket, their performances in thisseries have been outstanding, he said.The camp, which runs from March 21 to 28, comes ahead of a series offive Tests, which starts in Guyana on April 11.The 22 include four players without international experience.Left-handed Grenadian opener Devon Smith is called up after making aseason-high total of 750 runs, while Jamaican Gareth Breese isrewarded for a consistent season in which his right-handed battingbrought him 360 runs (ave. 45.00) and his improving off-breaks 35wickets.Jamaican Darrell Powell and Adam Sanford of the Leeward Islands, twofast bowlers in their first season of regional cricket, have also beensummoned. Powell, long identified by Andy Roberts as one of immensepotential, claimed 23 scalps, while the Dominica-born Sanford took 37.Two notable casualties from the recent tour of Sharjah are formervice-captain Sherwin Campbell and fast bowler Corey Collymore.We don’t think they warranted selection on this squad, based on theperformances of those who are selected, Findlay said.