Wisden

CricInfo News

CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

ARCHIVE
This month
This year
All years


The Barbados Nation Wallace hopeful of turnaround
Haydn Gill - 2 February 2001

Philo Wallace concedes that his approach in the Busta Cup has lacked purpose.

But the big opening batsman is not worried by his unproductive returns.

"You've got to bat with a purpose, and honestly I think I have not really batted with a purpose in the games," he told WEEKENDSPORT yesterday.

"I need to address that and turn it around if given the opportunity this weekend," Wallace said after Barbados' final net session in preparation for their fifth-round match against the Windward Islands starting today.

The experienced former national captain remains the team's only specialist batsman without a half-century this season and averages a modest 23.71 from eight innings which brought him 166 runs.

"I think my form is good. I'm hitting the ball nicely in the nets, but what is happening is that the way I am batting (in the nets), I am not taking it into the games," Wallace admitted.

"I'm trying to use a different approach in the game and that is not right because you can only play what you practise and what you know."

When asked what was so different about the contrasting approaches in the nets and the matches, Wallace said he was too negative in the middle.

"I've been too defensive and not really looking to push the ball away. I was just looking to bat and bat and it's not really paying off."

In spite of his lean run, Wallace is still upbeat.

"I have a lot of confidence. I believe in my own ability," he asserted. "That is what has gotten me this far and I just don't want it to desert me. I know what I have to do and I'll ensure that it happens."

Successive scores of 39, 32, 5, 15, 43, 24 not out, 8 and 0 are enough to cause many batsmen some degree of uneasiness but not Wallace.

"I am not worried at all. Why worry? Why worry about things that have gone?" he asked.

"You can only think about the future, and the future to me is one in which I can dominate, score runs and make a significant contribution to Barbados cricket."

The 30-year-old Wallace, who has played seven Tests and 33 One-Day Internationals, has not given up on the chance of playing for the West Indies again.

"International duty can come around to anyone. I don't think age is a big issue. We in the Caribbean put age as a big, big issue. If a man has the ability and is good enough to play for his country and for West Indies, he should be given that opportunity no matter what age he is."

© The Barbados Nation


Teams West Indies.
Players/Umpires Philo Wallace.
Tournaments Busta Cup, 2000-01
Season West Indies Domestic Season

Source: The Barbados Nation
Editorial comments can be sent to The Barbados Nation at nationnews@sunbeach.net