Date-stamped : 03 Nov93 - 06:11 Character and courage are the attributes for success in Caribbean Christopher Martin-Jenkins on the options available to the England selectors who meet tomorrow to decide the winter tour parties for West Indies and South Africa By Christopher Martin-Jenkins An assortment of officials sit down at Lord's tomorrow to decide who will represent England in the Caribbean from Jan 15 to April 21. At the same meeting the A team to tour South Africa for two months from the end of November will be chosen. The deliberations will be chaired by the urbane Frank Chamberlain, the chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board. He will not vote, nor will the tour manager, M J K Smith, but both can be rel ied upon to douse the occasional wild theory with a cold splash of common sense. The regular selectors who remain will be expected to shape the two teams: Keith Fletcher, preparing for his second tour as England manager; Mike Atherton, looking forward to his first as captain; and Dennis Amiss, who was co-opted to the selection committee last year. Amiss, incidentally, is not on the England committee, whose terms of reference cover preparing the England team, their financial arrangements, monitoring the performance of their manager, selection, and youth cricket. The latter explains why Micky Stewart, as director of coaching, is still an important part of the England committee but not why he should have a vote on tour selections. For a reason which the TCCB cannot explain, he does. So, too, do the chief executive of the Board, Alan Smith, and the chairman of the cricket committee, Ossie Wheatley. The only practical consequence, it seems to me, is to diffuse accountability. In practice the regular selectors are likely to get the teams to which they agreed at a preliminary session in London yesterday. Their top priority is somehow to find a team to win the Test series in the Caribbean. I am glad to say that Eng- land lost so badly in India and Sri Lanka last winter that the committee will not be tempted to fall prey to the siren song of the one-day internationals. Since the first Test in Kingston does not start until Feb 19, there is obvious scope for someone who succeeds on the A tour to be promoted in the event of injury to anyone in the West Indies. For this reason it is questionable whether the plan to consider a touring party of 17 rather than 16 to the Caribbean is a wise one. It will be tempting, none the less, both because there are six first-class matches outside the Tests, an improvement on recent tour itineraries, and because broken bones are so easily suffered in the Caribbean. A replace- ment is almost always required and it would be preferable to have properly acclimatised alternatives to injured men. On balance I think this should outweigh the danger of bored players getting too little cricket. A party of 17, then, to include one specialist wicketkeeper - let me name him at once, Jack Russell - seven bowlers and nine bats- men. It is essential to have in mind a primary plan for the Tests and a fall-back position to cover various potential setbacks. In the Caribbean the path of true cricket never does run smooth. Character in adversity will be one of the first qualities the chosen players will require; this and physical courage against bowling which is sure to be unremittingly hostile, although gene- rally speaking on true pitches of comfortable pace. It is still reasonable to build on the few good things to spring from the Ashes series, including the Malcolm, Fraser, Watkin combination; Hick at No 3 and Stewart as the pivot of the side as wicketkeeper and No 6. I know that Hick at No 3 is a gamble and that Stewart would prefer to burn his gloves and bat in the top three but there are sufficient early matches to sort out such options. Graham Thorpe, Nasser Hussain and, of course, Robin Smith make up the three remaining members of the shadow top six for the first Test, with Smith as Atherton's opening partner. It is a job he is keen to do and in which he would have an excellent chance of success, although he would, with no nasty wrist-spinners to worry him, be equally at home at No 3. If the policy of playing seven batsmen is to continue, as realistically it probably should, given Hick's ability to serve as a useful second spinner, the two from which he should be chosen are David Gower and Alan Wells. This would mean no place for Matthew Maynard or Mark Ramprakash, which is a pity, but there is time aplenty for both. Gower is vastly experienced and genuinely keen to go. His left-handedness is an advantage and on two previous tours of the Caribbean his Test averages have been 53 and 37, the latter 10 runs better than Gooch or anyone else. Wells is an accomplished player, more consistent, organised and genuinely confident than either Maynard or Ramprakash and less impetuous than the equally deserving John Morris. Despite the ability of Stewart and Smith to open the batting, a reserve opener is essential, as the failure to take one last time proved. Hugh Morris is a durable, plucky cricketer who may have looked unhappy against the West Indies on a quick pitch at the Oval in 1990 but who still held on for three hours for 44 and who subsequently topped the averages (49) and scored 121 more runs than his nearest challenger (Ramprakash) on the A tour of the West Indies the winter before last. Morris, like Russell and Wells, would be part of the initial fall- back plan. Careful thought about the bowling support for the Oval trio is essential. Caddick, Bicknell, Ilott and Taylor have all played for England since the turn of the year but my preference would be for the luckless Kent pair of Alan Igglesden and Martin McCague, with Phil Tufnell as the first-choice spin bowler. Ian Salisbury, on all recent evidence, would be a gamble, but an attractive one. A sixth fast bowler may be desirable in case of injuries - here, at least, the need to play five one-day internationals cannot be ignored -and Dominic Cork appeals to me more than Chris Lewis if the need is for a young one who can bat. But he would have to tour either at the expense of a second specialist spinner or of one of the batsmen. On their last Caribbean trips England took six fast bowlers; Australia had five, plus the Waugh twins. With three left-handers likely to be in the West Indies top six, it makes sense to have a specialist off-spinner and Peter Such, flattered though he was by his six for 67 in his first Test, never bowled badly for England. Many of those who miss the banana boat will take the old Union Castle route instead, although one could argue all night about which of the country's best young cricketers should go on the A tour. I can see the attractions of having Mike Gatting in charge but my preference would be for whichever one of Alan Wells, Hugh Morris or Maynard does not make the senior tour. My parties would be: ENGLAND (to West Indies): Atherton, Stewart, Smith, Hick, Thorpe, Hussain, Gower, Wells, H Morris, Russell, Fraser, Malcolm, Watkin, Igglesden, McCague, Tufnell, Such. ENGLAND A (to South Africa): Maynard (capt), Lathwell, J Crawley, Ramprakash, A Brown, Dale, Loye, Speight, Metson, Cork, M Bick- nell, Caddick, Gough, Mullally, Millns, Salisbury, Udal. (Thanks: The Daly Telegraph and Muthu) posted by Vicky on r.s.c. Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)