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There appears to be growing concern over the docile pitches that are being prepared around the Caribbean.

The Kensington Oval is certainly amongst the grounds being accused of not giving assistance to bowlers.

In the first 2001 Busta Cup game against Guyana 975 runs were scored (Barbados 422 and 116 for five vs Guyana 436), as that match ended in a tame drawn with first innings points going to the visitors.

The spin bowlers sent down more than 80 per cent of the overs bowled while the fast bowlers laboured on the 'dead' Kensington Oval pitch.

Two centuries were scored, Carl Hooper, 169, and Roland Holder, 117, and generally the batsmen looked comfortable, although not commandingly aggressive.

In the second game against Jamaica, which also ended in a draw with Barbados losing first innings' points again, the pitch was batsman-friendly while offering little comfort to the fast bowlers.

In my view, Kensington has always been the barometer by which to measure the quality of fast bowling in the region.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s when I played, I can recall the best of our bowlers - Ambrose, Walsh, Benjamin, Anthony Gray, Roberts, Patrick Patterson and others - all looking forward to bowling at Kensington, without any major concern for who maybe batting, including Greenidge and Haynes.

In recent years, however, coming to Barbados is close to a fast bowler's nightmare.

If our bowlers do not get the support from the groundsmen in the region, West Indies cricket will continue to suffer at the international level where we are finding it difficult to bowl the opposition out twice in a game.

Consequently, we are seeing the resurgence of good spin bowling performances in all the Busta Cup games this season.

The question is: are these performances genuine enough to be converted into Test match winning figures?

The truth is that since Lance Gibbs in the 1960s and 1970s, there has not been one outstanding spinner for the West Indies who has won matches at the international level.

So, are we pursuing a policy to re-introduce spinners for the international stage through the deliberate preparation of lifeless pitches?

The Best Of Strokes thinks that ploy would be futile, even though our present crop of fast bowlers is way below par in comparison with the rest of the world.

Some would agree that cricket is not only a spectator sport, but as well a commercial exercise in which groundsmen, scorers and other ancillary staff are expecting a four-day pay packet.

The vendors too are also looking forward to four full days of profitable business. However, the spectators want to see good competitive cricket in the best possible conditions, but would that mean sacrificing commercial business?

© The Barbados Nation