Courtney soldiers on (4 June 1999)
At 36, he is as good as he was at 26, arguably even better, so retirement isn't yet a word in Courtney Walsh's vocabulary
04-Jun-1999
4 June 1999
Courtney soldiers on
Tony Cozier
At 36, he is as good as he was at 26, arguably even better, so
retirement isn't yet a word in Courtney Walsh's vocabulary.
After his third, all-too-brief World Cup, in which he was the most
effective of all the bowlers, Walsh hinted yesterday that a return to
England with the West Indies next summer for the Test series at the
age of 37, was a distinct possibility. It would be his fifth tour
here.
Walsh said his split with English county, Gloucestershire, for whom
he played for 14 years, gave him an expected release to continue his
career for the West Indies.
"It was on the cards when I was going to sign for two years with
Gloucestershire this season that I wouldn't be playing any more
international cricket," he explained on the Sky Sports television
World Cup Centre programme.
"I had a very good series in South Africa and (against Australia) in
the Caribbean and I've now got the option of getting the highest
number of Test wickets," he said. "I would have been satisfied with
400 but I have the chance of getting past two greats bowlers, Sir
Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev."
With 423 wickets in 110 Tests, Walsh is eight short of New Zealand's
Hadlee and 11 away from India's Kapil Dev who took 434 wickets in his
131 Tests.
Walsh noted that it was the first time since 1984 he would not be
playing in the English season, either for Gloucestershire or the West
Indies.
"Now I've got a rest so I may be fresh for England next year," he
added.
The West Indies do not have an international engagement until
December in New Zealand where they have two Tests and five One-day
Internationals. They return home in January for the domestic Busta
Cup followed by series against New Zealand (two Tests) and Pakistan
(three Tests) and a three-way tournament of ODIs.
Walsh's value was emphasised in the Tests in South Africa, where he
took 22 wickets in four at an average of 19.09, and against Australia
in the Caribbean where his return was 26 wickets at 22.26, also in
four Tests.
In each case, he bowled more than any other West Indian.
Acknowledging that One-day cricket was "for young people", he
voluntarily withdrew during the home series against England last
year. But his experience of English conditions promoted his recall
and he demonstrated his continuing class with 11 wickets in the West
Indies' five first round matches at an average of 9.81 and an economy
rate of 2.29 runs an over, both less than anyone else in the
tournament.
The West Indies' elimination at the preliminary stage would have come
as a great disappointment. But Walsh accepted reality.
"Our fate was in our our hands," he said. "Overall, we just didn't
come up with the goods."
"That 110 against Australia (in the final match) just wasn't good
enough," he added. "If we'd got 160 to 170, it would have meant
Australia had to up their run-rate and that New Zealand would have to
have played out of their skins to go past that."
"I don't like leaving our fate in someone else's hands and New
Zealand were always going to get the 120-odd in 21 overs they needed
against Scotland."
Obviously, another batting failure caused the demise. But Walsh did
not go along with the widely held theory.
"A lot of people complain that Brian Lara is a one-man batting team
but we have enough batting," he said. "Phil Simmons was coming at
No.7, with five One-day International hundreds, so we've got depth in
our batting."
It was an argument that was not supported by the evidence but Walsh
was never one to blame his teammates.
Source :: The Trinidad Express