Philip Hackett

There has been obvious improvement in the one day team over the past nine months and the confidence gained from this success could positively affect the players as they undertake the challenging task of facing Pakistan on their turf.

The last visit there nine years ago ended in a 3-0 whitewash. While it is encouraging to remember that the two sides played to a 1-1 draw in the Caribbean last year it must be remembered that Mohammad Yousuf missed both matches and Inzamam- ul-Haq the first Test. Furthermore Pakistan is traditionally a much stronger unit when playing at home.

The decision to leave the left handed pacers Pedro Collins and Ian Bradshaw in the Caribbean and tour with two spinners was as disappointing as it was surprising.  It is probably highly optimistic to believe that two spinners with thirteen Tests and 35 wickets between them and with no spectacular achievements even at the first class level would march into foreign territory and bowl West Indies to victory. Then again cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties.

This tour will be an important one for Fidel Edwards. Despite the patience of the selectors his maturation process has been slow. Jerome Taylor will probably have to lead the attack but he and the team management must be cautious about his workload.

I believe Daren Powell is fortunate to be in Pakistan. Hopefully he will not struggle as badly as I fear he will. A successful tour will be a boost to his confidence and his development as an international cricketer.

Like true West Indies cricket fans we all have opinions about team selection and every other issue surrounding the sport.  The selectors have spoken however and all we can do is support the team.

Hopefully the tour selectors will stick to what is working rather than make unnecessary changes as we saw in the ICC champions Trophy and in the preceding tournament in Malaysia when they experimented quite liberally with the batting order. I think the decision to change the team for the Champions Trophy final by including Collymore for Smith was risky.  Collymore had been short of work while Smith, whose batting was poor, bowled well throughout and is a far superior fielder to Collymore.  It is unlikely Smith was injured as he performed the role of substitute fielder during the final. Let us hope they stick to what is working well during the tour of Pakistan.

Pakistan is ranked at three and West Indies 40 points behind at number eight but as we saw when India came to town in the ODI series in the Caribbean, the underdog should never be written off too early.

Philip Hackett is a freelance sports journalist who has covered international cricket matches for the Nation Newspaper in Barbados as well as the CMC (formerly CANA). Hackett is also a well-respected cricket radio commentator who has covered Test matches for the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation as well as numerous regional first class matches. He has also provided print media and electronic media coverage of table tennis throughout the region. Hackett is a physical education teacher and has worked in Bermuda, Barbados and now the Cayman Islands. He is a qualified international table tennis coach, having received his training in Hungary and a Level one cricket coach. Hackett holds a Masters degree in education from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.