Gibbs: Youngsters are not ready to work hard

Lance Gibbs may now reside in Miami, but he cannot stay away from his own country, especially when there is cricket to watch. He appears in the prime of health - tall and erect, with a dignified bearing. Aside from being the first spinner to take more than 300 Test wickets, he is also an excellent raconteur.

"Many spinners have gone past me in terms of wickets taken now, but I'm happy," says Gibbs graciously. "Nowadays they are playing more matches; we could not play against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe or South Africa, and only few Tests against New Zealand.

"Our generation didn't play for records," says Gibbs. He proceeds to add, mischieviously, "But you should give credit to this old man for crossing the barrier of 300 Test wickets first as a spinner."

The West Indies have lacked good spinners after Sonny Ramadhin, Alf Valentine and Gibbs. Why are youngsters not interested in taking up spin? Gibbs thinks it is a lack of readiness to work hard.

"Spinners should have the mentality of toiling more than any other cricketer in the nets," opines Gibbs. "The new genration of spinners in our country are not doing that. I can tell you that I used to come to the ground first and always left it last. For a spinner, accuracy is the main thing, and for that they have to devote more time in the nets. Even when my fingers were bleeding, I didn't leave the nets. And that is why, even after retiring from the game almost 30 years ago, you are still coming to interview me, isn't it?"

Muttiah Muralitharan, the stellar off-spinner of this generation, has his eyes on 600 wickets. Gibbs considers him a very good bowler, but he was not ready to say anything about his action. "That is for the umpires to decide," he says, unwilling to invite controversy.

When asked about the batsman who had given him the most problems, he is quick to reply. "Ian Chappell - it was really difficult to bowl against him, and I couldn't keep any close-in fielders for him," says Gibbs. "Neil Harvey, Ian Johnson and Colin Cowdrey also played spin with authority. My list of favourite batsmen also have Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd. Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are there too. Every one of them is a very good player of spin."

However, he is not happy at the way Anil Kumble has bowled in this series. "Why does he keep the balls outside the leg-stump, especially when it was not turning so much?," asks Gibbs. "To me, Sarandeep looks to be an average bowler."