da poker： Recently retired Courtney Walsh has been asked by the West Indies to tour Zimbabwe, says assistant coach Jeff Dujon.
Bloomberg News Agency04-May-2001Courtney Walsh, Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker, has been asked by West Indies officials to postpone his retirement and tour Zimbabwe in July,said assistant coach Jeff Dujon.Walsh, with 519 victims in 132 matches, said last month’sFifth Test against South Africa in his native Jamaica would be hislast unless he were required in a crisis. Having lost 18 of their 20latest Tests overseas, the West Indies may be in danger of losing tocricket’s second-lowest ranked country.”He’s the type of person that if he was really needed, hewould seriously consider it,” said Dujon, a former Jamaica andWest Indies teammate. “I think he might go.”The West Indies lost the South African series 2-1, only theirsecond home defeat in 28 years. Walsh, 38, was the best bowler oneither side, taking 25 wickets at an average of 19.68. He has a strike rate of less than 20 in the past two years.”He’s not been smashed around and the fact that he’s neverplayed in Zimbabwe may be a temptation,” said Dujon, who playedin 81 Tests. Dujon was speaking at a coaching conference in Telford in England.The West Indies begin their first tour of Zimbabwe on June 17 andplay a one-day tournament, also involving India, before the July19-23 and 27-31 Test matches in Bulawayo and Harare. Walsh wouldonly play in the Tests.The Zimbabweans will be looking for revenge. The teams havemet twice in Tests, the West Indies winning both matches at home lastyear, by 35 runs in Trinidad and by ten wickets in Jamaica. Theyalso beat Zimbabwe in three of the four one-day games in Australiathis year.Walsh, who made his Test debut in 1984, is spendingtime with his family and has indicated he would soon like to get acoaching certificate to develop youngsters in the sport.Before that though, he has the incentive of extending hislead over Kapil Dev, the second-highest wicket-taker with 434 Testvictims. The closest rival still playing is Wasim Akram who has409.”I hope Courtney will be there – at least every time hetakes a wicket he’d be breaking the world record,” Dujon said.