Unhappy Garner may quit as West Indies selector

Unhappy Garner may quit as West Indies selector
Reuters

BRIDGETOWN, DECEMBER 30: Former fast bowler Joel Garner, who took 259 Test wickets between 1977-1987, is hinting that he may soon quit as a West Indies selector, the Barbados Advocate reported.

Garner, a Test selector for the past two-and-a-half years, is ``puzzled'' at recent decisions made by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), including the appointment of former Test skipper Richie Richardson, 39 next month, as captain of the `B' team.

``The time is fast approaching when I shall have to tell West Indies cricket goodbye,'' Garner was quoted as saying in Friday's Advocate. He added that he felt a member of the `B' team should have been chosen as captain.

Brian Lara has also criticised West Indian administrators in the wake of Friday's disastrous 352-run defeat by Australia in the fourth Test in Melbourne, a result that put the home team 4-0 up in the series.

``Complacency has been a factor,'' he said. ``The slide started a very long time ago. The invincibility we had in the early 1980s was already diminishing when I arrived in the late 1980s. We weren't beating teams 5-0 any more.

``May be the foresight was not there when we were very successful in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We needed that foresight for our run to last forever.''