Gus Logie wants to limit the training regime of West Indies' young fast bowlers to protect them from the kind of injuries that affected Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards during the two Tests against Zimbabwe.
"It is something we may have to sit down with the trainer [Ronald
Rogers], the physiotherapist [Sunit Liebenberg] and the fast bowlers themselves to see how we can lighten the load in terms of their training without rendering them ineffective in games," the team coach said yesterday.
Taylor, the 19-year-old Jamaican was put out of the drawn first Test with a lowerback sprain after bowling 9.4 overs. An inflamed ankle eliminated 21-year-old Edwards after 11 overs in the second Test.
They and 19-year-old Ravi Rampaul are on their first senior tours and are the quickest of the six fast bowlers in the team.
"Even though they are very talented, I don't think their physical structure is such that it can carry them through the rigours of the four Test matches, the three four-day matches and the eight one-day internationals we have ahead of us here and in South Africa," Logie said.
But he acknowledged that he was not certain how the necessary balance could be struck between the physical and technical demands of training.
"We'll ask the experts in the squad how we can go about making sure that these young men are match-ready and also free of injury," he said.
Taylor has fully recovered from his `facet joint sprain' and was available for selection for the second Test that ended here on Sunday in a series-clinching victory by 128 runs for the West Indies. He is set to return for the one-day match against Zimbabwe `A' in Kwekwe tomorrow, in preparation for the five one-day internationals that get underway with back-to-back matches at the Queen's Sports Club here next weekend.
Edwards, whose pace had made him the main strike bowler after only three Tests, has responded so well to treatment that he reported no ill effects when he fielded for an hour and a half on the fourth day of the second Test.
But he is likely to be rested during the one-day internationals in preparation for the South African tour that starts December 3.
Edwards' injury was ironic as he was one of the players exempted from Logie's general criticism of the levels of players' fitness prior to the tour.
In the off period since his debut Test against Sri Lanka in Kingston in late June, Edwards was kept in shape by a personal trainer in Barbados. His 50.3 overs in the two innings of the first Test were the most he had bowled in any kind of cricket.
"That's the sort of individual responsibility that we've been looking at but I do believe that in our societies it is something that is difficult to attain," Logie said.
"One of the ways to go would be to put players on retainer contracts and have people to monitor them when they're not on duty with the team. I think the West Indies board is seriously considering that."
Logie said it would be unrealistic for the West Indies to rely too heavily on the extra pace of Edwards, Taylor and Rampaul so early in their careers. "It's a nice thing to say that we have young fast bowlers but, on the other hand, when we're looking at the tours to come, especially South Africa, we really do need experience. We not only need experience but we need them (fast bowlers) to be as fit as possible so it's going to be a challenge."