Tony Becca THE WEST Indies squad now in England is short of a spin bowler and one wonders if the Windies selectors, among them one former spin bowler, are blinkered or short-sighted. For years now, the West Indies have treated spin bowlers like orphaned cousins or worse than that, even though, from time to time, they have lamented the absence of a quality spinner.
Only recently, former coach Bennett King and former captain Brian Lara said that the West Indies needed a good spin bowler if they are to challenge the world but that unfortunately there is not a good one in the region.
Although there are some like left-arm wrist spinner Dave Mohammed and off-spinners Omari Banks and Amit Jaggernauth around, the selectors may well be right - and especially so if when they say good they mean great, and if, in fact, they are really looking for one like Daniel Vettori or one like Muttiah Muralitharan, not to mention one like Shane Warne. If that is so, then there are really none around - and especially so if, according to coach David Moore, Chris Gayle is the best spin bowler in the West Indies.
The question, however, is this: I spin bowlers in the region are not afforded opportunities, if they are not encouraged, if they are allowed to sit back and watch Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan bowling in Test matches, how can they improve; how can they have the drive and the confidence to develop their skills?
Not encouraged
And there is no question about it: West Indies spin bowlers are not encouraged. Even when, like the fast bowlers and some times unlike the fast bowlers, they get two or three wickets in an innings, they are promptly dropped - even when their economy rate is better than the so-called fast bowlers.
The WI and their selectors should be reminded that spin bowling is part of cricket, they should understand that regardless of the pitch, the better bowler, spin or pace, will get better results and they should appreciate the fact that while the West Indies once boasted some fine fast bowlers, some of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, they no longer do so.
In their effort to develop some good fast bowlers, the West Indies and their selectors should also make some effort to develop some good spin bowlers, and in doing so they should understand the difference between batting, fast bowling and spin bowling and therefore the difference between developing batsmen, fast bowlers and spin bowlers.
Unlike batsmen and fast bowlers, spin bowlers take time to develop, for the simple reason that unlike batting, which depends so much on eyesight, reflexes, timing and footwork, unlike fast bowling which depends so much on strength and physical fitness, spin bowling is an art which, so often, depends not so much on the degree of spin and the amount of flight, but on deception.
Unless they are operating on a pitch that favours them, spin bowlers, most times, have to "work out" a batsman, that calls for experience and that is why, generally speaking, good spin bowlers come on later and at an older age.
For those who do not believe spin bowling has a place in the game, all they need to do is to look at the career of the likes of Warne and Muralitharan and then look at who are the most successful bowlers in the world, and for those who still do not believe so, all they have to do is look at the recent World Cup.
If they do, they will see a number of times when spin bowlers changed the course of a game, they will see that of the top seven wicket-takers three, Muralitharan in second spot, Brad Hogg in fourth place and Vettori in seventh spot, were spin bowlers, that three of the four teams and the two in the final, including the champions, all possessed a good spin bowler.
If they look closely they will also see that the West Indies, who did not play one specialist spin bowler, defeated only one good team in the tournament, that they defeated only Bangladesh in the Super Eight round and that they failed to make it to the semi-finals.
In the Super Eight round their all pace, mediocre attack was destroyed as with the exception of Bangladesh who failed to make merry, Australia rattled up 322 forsix off 50 overs, New Zealand 179 for three off 39.2, Sri Lanka 303 for five off 50 overs, South Africa 356 for four off 50 overs, and by England who, in their best performance of the tournament, smashed the Windies bowlers for 301 for nine in 49.5 overs.
Same game
In the current Test match being played at Lord's, the West Indies attack lacked even one great fast bowler, the West Indies attack was the same thing from start to finish, once the England batsmen got used to them that was that.
The West Indies attack needed a good spin bowler to even attempt to change the rhythm of the game, it was embarrassing to see Gayle and Sarwan bowling together in a Test match and no wonder that England scored 553 for five in the first innings with four batsmen, including newcomer Matt Prior who smashed 19 fours while scoring 126 not out off 128 deliveries, chalking up a century each - the first time in an England innings since 1938.
With the four pace bowlers going for more than 100 runs each, and with Gayle and Sarwan giving away 81 runs off a combined 16 overs and passing the bat on one occasion, it was, despite one leg before decision which went against them, and three catches which they dropped, like taking candy from a baby.
