Campbell's kingdom embraces England

It is difficult to find a West Indian Test cricketer who has not appeared prominently in the county scores at one time or another. Carl Hooper has done Kent proud, Richie Richardson had a couple of seasons with Yorkshire, Jimmy Adams spent last season at Nottinghamshire and, of course, all the fast bowlers have been in demand.

The notable exception has been the little opening batsman, Sherwin Campbell, and even he is known among the avid followers of league cricket around the Manchester area, having played for Accrington last season.

It was not a particularly satisfying season for him, as he struggled to come to grips with damp green pitches and the varying temperatures of an English summer. But it was obviously a beneficial experience and he has immediately put it to use on his first tour with the West Indies.

His origins could be in no doubt to anyone watching him for an over or two. He is a stroke-maker in the best traditions of West Indian batting.

His response to Phillip de Freitas's first ball at The Oval yesterday was typical. It was short, it was outside leg stump and he simply swivelled on his back foot and deposited it over the long leg ropes for six.

Campbell has had a somewhat chequered past. At Under-19 level he so dominated the annual West Indies championships that he surpassed even Brian Lara's record and was an automatic choice in the Barbados team as a teenager.

An opener in the junior team, he had to convert to No 3 behind Barbados's illustrious pair of Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, and a succession of early failures cost him his place and ruined his confidence.

A century against Trinidad and Tobago in the final match of 1993 convinced the selectors that he was worth another chance - and, importantly, convinced him that he truly belonged at this level. He was included for the first time on the tour of India late last year.

His opportunities were limited to three one-day internationals and a solitary first class match but, on the subsequent tour of New Zealand he enjoyed a promising start to his Test career.

In the second Test in Wellington he was able to indulge himself in his favourite shots and his 88 set the pattern for a West Indian total of 653 for 5 declared. He shared a partnership with Lara in which he outscored the illustrious left-hander at 221.

He had every reason to consider that, on the strength of those performances, he was worth an extended run, but after failing in both innings of the first Test against Australia on his return to the Caribbean, he was promptly dumped. The replacement pairing did not prosper and Campbell's selection for this tour was automatic.