‘Shill’ tipped for Test look-in

WEST INDIES coach Ottis Gibson gave another hint that Dominican  off-spinner Shane Shillingford may be selected for the first Test against South Africa in Trinidad and Tobago,  June 10-14.When asked by journalists about the 27-year-old Windward Islands bowler, Gibson did not hide his feelings that, having seen him bowl earlier in the year, he liked what he saw.“He went away to Bangladesh and did very well. I’m not sure about the One-Day series but when the Test series comes around, he’s somebody that could get a look-in,” the coach noted.He added that the selectors would sit down next week and discuss the squad for the three-match Test series, with matches also scheduled for St Kitts (June 18-22) and Barbados (June 26-30).Shillingford was due to return to the Caribbean yesterday from Bangladesh where he was instrumental in the West Indies “A” team’s 114-run victory in the first four-day match at Mirpur.The jerky finger spinner had figures of 17-7-30-4 and 20.5-3-67-2 and followed with a marathon 38-12-82-3 in the drawn second unofficial “test” at Savar.“He’s certainly somebody that we’ve identified. I’ve looked at his record and he’s got a very good record in regional cricket. Like I always say, we are not [rich] enough a nation anymore to ignore people with good records and good cricketers,” Gibson pointed out.Overall, in 58 first-class matches, Shillingford has captured 212 wickets at an average of 25.21. He also showed that he is a very economical bowler with the impressive figures of 4-0-16-4 against Zimbabwe to help the West Indies “A” Team win a T20 match at Progress Park in Grenada, last month.“I don’t think he will feature in the One-Day series and the likelihood of him featuring in the Test series is very high,” Gibson emphasised. (EZS)