WI need to cultivate new leg-spinners in first-class cricket”

– says WI Chief of Selectors Roger Harper

By Brandon Corlette

In many parts of the world, leg-spinners of all varieties can be found in abundance, but this is not the case in the Caribbean, as the drought of leg-spin bowling continues.

The West Indies Test team that is touring Bangladesh, where spin-friendly conditions abound, does not have any front-line leg-spinner. This is as a result of the limited amount of leg-spinners who play Regional 4-Day cricket in the Caribbean.
According to Cricket West Indies Lead Selector Roger Harper, he and his selection pannel are having difficulty locating a leg-spinner in the longer version of the game.
“I would really like to look at a leg-break option, but I cannot think of one for the longer version. We recognise the potential and the potence of quality leg-spin in international cricket. We don’t seem to have anyone in the first-class set-up at the moment, and that is something we will try to cultivate,” Harper disclosed on the recent Mason and Guest radio programme.
Agreeing with a statement made by the lead selector is rare, but this is one of those occasions when there is concurrence. In the 2019-2020 Regional 4-Day tournament, only a handful of leg-spinners were on show. Trinidad and Tobago Red Force veteran Imran Khan, Guyana’s Devendra Bishoo, Windward Islands’ Keron Cottoy, Jamaica’s left-arm wrist spinner Dennis Bulli, and the Leeward Islands’ duo of Damion Jacobs and Hayden Walsh were the front-line leg spinners on show.

Having played three matches in the 2019-2020 4-Day tournament for the Red Force, Khan claimed 13 wickets. Over the years, Khan has been one of the top spinners in the Region. In 105 first-class matches, Khan has taken 423 wickets, with 25 five-wicket hauls, but, at age 36, he is still to make a Test debut.
During the last Regional 4-Day campaign, Bishoo was recovering from an injury. He played only three matches and took five wickets. Among the current leg-spinners in the Caribbean, Bishoo is one of the better players. He played 103 first-class matches and has taken 387 wickets, with 117 of those being Test wickets.
At age 35, Bishoo seems to be running out of time for a recall, but time will tell whether or not he dominates Regional cricket once more and earn a West Indies recall.

Windward Islands’ Cottoy is more of an all-rounder. In the seven matches he played in the 2019-2020 Regional 4-Day tournament, Cottoy took seven wickets, but also scored 432 runs at an average of 54.

In Cottoy’s overall first-class record, he played 11 matches and claimed 11 wickets. Looking at Cottoy, who is not even a specialist spinner, speaks volume of the limited leg-spin assets in first-class cricket.
The other wrist spinner is Dennis Bulli, who plays first-class cricket for Jamaica. He played only two matches in the recent season, and took three wickets. He played a total of 13 matches, and has taken 33 wickets in his short first-class career thus far.
Meanwhile, the Leeward Islands’ Damion Jacobs played three matches in the recent 4-Day season, and claimed six wickets, while Walsh Jr, who is the limited overs leg-spinner, played only one first-class match in the 2019-2020 season, and went wicketless in the 12 overs he bowled.

West Indies selectors are in search of leg-spinners, but in order for them to represent the West Indies, they must dominate Regional cricket.