Lloyd blames pitches for Windies pace decline

The decline of pitches in the Caribbean has eroded the quality of the West Indies pace attack, according to former captain Clive Lloyd.

"Pitches in the West Indies have deteriorated and so has the standard of fast bowlers," Lloyd told reporters late on Thursday.

Lloyd moulded West Indies into a world-leading side in the late 1970's by encouraging an all-out pace attack to instil fear in the opposition.

But West Indies's pace attack has struggled even at home since the retirement last year of Courtney Walsh -- the last in the line of great West Indian fast bowlers -- who holds the world record for most test wickets, 519.

West Indies have slumped to eighth among 10 test playing countries after being routed 3-0 by Sri Lanka and 2-0 by Pakistan in consecutive series recently and they trail 1-0 in the ongoing five-test series against India.

"We just keep hoping we'll come out of this trough, but it is not happening.

"We have lost a lot of big players. A number of youngsters have come into the side who have not been able to fill the gap."

"Winning, just like losing, is contagious. Any win now would be a bonus," he added.

Lloyd's comments came as a four-pronged pace attack showed verve to skittle out India for 102 on the first day of the third Barbados test on Thursday.

He said India would have to find a durable opening pair if they are to become competitive playing abroad.

India have not won a test series outside south Asia in 26 years, mainly owing to the weakness of their batsmen against rising deliveries on pacy overseas pitches.

"India need two openers to give a good start on most occasions. If you lose the openers rather quickly and you don't have a very good number three it will be a problem."

Opening the batting has remained a weak area since Gavaskar retired in 1987 after scoring a record 10,122 runs in 125 tests, including a world test record of 34 centuries.

In the current series, India have tried out three different batsmen to open with Shiv Sundar Das, who himself has struggled for runs.

The former West Indies skipper also announced a campaign launched by the publishers of the Wisden cricket almanac to select an Indian cricketer of the century.

A 35-member jury, which includes many former test players, will provide five nominees each and the final announcement will be made in London on July 23, Wisden officials announced.

An Indian team of the century would also be chosen.

Mail Cricket Editor