Bishop building up to make-or-break tour

Tony Cozier reports from Port of Spain, Trinidad, on the West Indies' options for their tour of England this summer

Their options somewhat altered by Sunday's stunning three-day victory over Australia in the third Test, West Indies selectors turned their attention to the summer tour of England here yesterday.

They were choosing the 17 that will undertake the schedule of six Tests, three one-day internationals and 13 first-class matches against the euphoria of the nine-wicket triumph that levelled the series 1-1 with the final Test starting in Kingston on Saturday.

A couple of individuals - fast bowler Kenny Benjamin with his vital three wickets and opening batsman Stuart Williams with a polished second-innings 42 on a difficult pitch - probably cemented previously shaky places for England. But the result, heartening as it was, did not entirely paper over weaknesses.

These concern mainly the opening partnership and the support fast bowlers for Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Since Gordon Greenidge's illustrious career ended in 1991, no settled pair has emerged to start the innings. There has been only one century opening stand in the 23 Tests since, and the absence of Greenidge's long-time partner, Desmond Haynes for the past three series against India, New Zealand and now Australia has accentuated the problem.

The amazing Ambrose, man of the match on Sunday with his haul of 9 for 65, and the durable Walsh, man of the second Test, also with nine wickets, remain as capable as ever of demolishing opponents. But they are now both on the wrong side of 30 and young successors are not in such profusive evidence as they were in the 1970s and 80s.

In the circumstances there will be the strong temptation to reinstate Haynes and recall Ian Bishop, an outstanding fast bowler whose career has been twice interrupted by stress fractures of vertebrae.

Haynes's selection would require the unpalatable digestion of heaps of pride. At 39 and with 7,487 runs from his 116 Tests, he has the experience needed at the top of the order where Richardson has been reluctantly forced to place himself. But Haynes's relations with the selectors and the West Indies Board are, to understate the case, a little frosty.

He missed the tours of India and New Zealand recently, opting to play instead for Western Province in South Africa. Anxious to round off his career with the glamour series against Australia and England, he hurriedly left his surprised employers in South Africa in January to fly back to the Caribbean for the domestic Red Stripe Cup competititon.

But he was two days too late for the first match and that automatically made him ineligible for the series against Australia since the Board stipulated all five matches as a requirement for qualification. It was a decision that sparked heated debate and eventually led to Haynes carrying the Board to court to challenge it.

The Board has stated that Haynes does qualify for selection this time. Strictly on cricketing grounds, his return would not only bring needed stability to a vital position but provide expert guidance to Williams and Sherwin Campbell, the pair of right-handers being groomed as the opening pair for the future.

Bishop's repeated injuries have limited him to seven Tests in the past four years and he has had none in the past two. He returned for the Red Stripe Cup season in January and February and played against the Australians in a rain-ruined representative match in March.

Patently easing himself back into action, he did not exert himself and his returns were inconclusive. Yet he is still only 27 and such a long tour gives him a chance to prove, once and for all, whether he has a future as a Test bowler. It is a gamble that is likely to attract the selectors.

Other fast bowlers with English county experience were also bound to be considered, mainly the Barbadians Ottis Gibson and Vasbert Drakes and the Windward Islander Cameron Cuffy.

With fast bowling resources thinner than usual there could be a place for a genuine leg spinner. Rajindra Dhanraj has been on the tours of India and New Zealand and England's problems against Shane Warne should be sufficient recommendation for his inclusion.

It will be a West Indies team significantly altered from that which toured England in 1991 since when not only Greenidge but also Viv Richards, Jeffrey Dujon and Malcolm Marshall have retired. But with so many attached to counties it will hardly be unrecognisable to spectators and it certainly will not be any weaker.

Roseberry in a hurry, page 30