By Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterWITH ALL the West Indies players available for selection in Jamaica's XI for tomorrow's crucial seventh and final round Carib Beer match against India A, coach Robert Haynes said in his mind he would select three quick bowlers along with David Bernard Jnr in the final XI.
"The pitch that I am seeing now has a lot of grass on it," Haynes said. "However, the last time we played on the Test pitch here against the Windward Islands it wasn't a very fast wicket.
"However, this one probably got some more preparation so it will bounce a bit more and play a little quicker. When you have Jermaine Lawson (if fully recovered from a leg injury), Daren Powell and young Taylor (Jerome), who bowled so well in Trinidad, you are definitely looking at three pacers. Then you also have Bernard Jnr, who has been doing well all season.
"Bernard is not a back-up bowler, he has been a wickettaker, he has been one of our best bowlers this season". To add to that, the coach said: "When you look at his batting, bowling and fielding, he has been doing very well, so we can't have him as back-up bowler, we have him as one of our front-line bowlers.
"In my opinion it will be a three-pronged attack (Lawson, Powell and Taylor) and a medium pacer (Bernard Jnr).
"We have a lot of bowlers (spinners)," he added. "We have Gareth Breese, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ricardo Powell and Marlon Samuels, so we have a lot of options, but most importantly we will just have to wait and see what kind of pitch it is," he said.
Haynes, a former West Indies one-day player backed up his argument for playing three quickies. "The Indians have not being playing the quick bowlers well because when you check their record Tino Best and young Ryan Thomas got some wickets against them, so we will have to look and see what is best suited for our team," he added.
With a Jamaica team boasting so much talent, opener Leon Garrick may be asked to join Brenton Parchment, who scored 95 against Guyana, spinner Nehemiah Perry, Mario Ventura, Ryan Cunningham and Maurice Kepple on the sidelines.
The final 13-man squad is expected to be named after today's training session scheduled for Sabina Park at 10:00 a.m.
