Windies selection rift on; Lara take on Roberts again

Georgetown, Guyana, Apr 3 (UNI) The selection rift in the West Indies team is not showing any signs of cooling down with both captain Brian Lara and selector Andy Roberts on a confrontation path.

''I apologise for saying hard thing about him (Roberts) but he too should concentrate on positive criticism and not the selection process in public domain,'' was the sum up of Brina Lara's comment today.

But Andy Roberts is still fuming after the unceremonious surrender of West Indies to New Zealand and Sri Lanka. By the time Ramnaresh Sarwan's legbreaks had been called upon to bowl the 39th and penultimate over of the innings, the post-construction moonscape on which this stadium has been plonked reflected the bleakness of the host team's prospects.

''These are really desperate times, and the guys have to pick themselves up and know what is in front of them,'' Lara said after the match.

''We've got to get into the frame of mind of winning everything from now on. We didn't play like it was a crucial World Cup match.'' From the moment Lendl Simmons, an opener by trade, was selected at No.8 in place of the quickest bowler in the squad, Jerome Taylor, Lara's team played like a side sleepwalking to disaster.

It was - even by West Indian standards - a staggering piece of whimsical selection.

''We haven't scored 250 runs yet in the tournament, so we thought we'd try to strengthen the batting as much as possible,'' Lara tried to justify, but it did little to stem the growing disillusionment.

Though Taylor had a rough day against Australia last Tuesday, conceding 67 runs in ten wicketless overs, those were hardly grounds for his axing. Just recently in October he took 4 for 49 to bowl West Indies to victory over Australia in the Champions Trophy.

Simmons, the reserve wicketkeeper, has delivered just six balls in his entire international career.

All the signs pointed to the sort of selection conflagration that West Indies desperately needed to avoid at the most crucial juncture of the showpiece event. Lara's selection (and the coach, Bennett King, is not believed to have had much say in the matter) has been interpreted as one in the eye for a selection committee that includes the Antiguan legend, Andy Roberts.

''There is no explanation and it has just happened,'' was Lara's comment.

Roberts, along with his fellow selectors, Gordon Greenidge and Clyde Butts, picked the 15-man squad for the World Cup on February 2, and the impression that Lara had been giving was that he was not best armoured with the men at his disposal.

''I can simply say to Andy Roberts that I did not select this World Cup squad,'' he said, adding ''I was not there in the meeting.

The team was selected without me. But I still go out there and fight my very best with the squad given to me.'' Roberts himself was agog at the omission of Taylor. ''I can't find the words to describe it,'' he told local reporters.

''If you play an extra batsman at No. 8, he has to be able to bowl. All I can say is that Simmons must have changed roles since I last saw him,'' Roberts said.

Simmons, however did not give any evidence to suggest the same.

UNI