"I saw Kaneria bowling in Indo-Pak series and I found him extremely good bowler," the 72-year-old legend told APP at the Beausjour Stadium.

"It may expose the vulnerability of some of our batsmen," USA-based Gibbs, who took 309 wickets in 79 Tests, said.

He said the Caribbean team always had problems against genuine leg-spinners and Danish Kaneria could prove vital for Pakistan in the Test series.

He said Shoaib Akhtar is a genuine quick bowler but he has fitness problems. "Look at Australians, they have Shane Warne, Sri Lanka got Muralitharan, India have Kumble and Harbhajan - Pakistan have Kaneria and Afridi, England got Ashley Giles," he said. "So spinners still play a vital role for their respective teams," he said. "You got to have bowlers who can bowl in all kinds of conditions," he said.

Commenting on Pakistan team, he said they did not perform well in Australia but they are now fighting back and getting into a winning combination.

He complimented Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer for moulding the team into a winning combination. "It was great to see them coming back in Test series and win one-day series 4-2 against India after being 0-2 down." Regarding the pitches in Caribbean, Gibbs, who toured Pakistan in 1975 and again toured as manager in 1993, said pitches were good in the past.

Jamaica pitch used to be good for quick bowlers and Kensington Oval pitch in Barbados is good for pacemen in the start and becomes good for batting from the second day.

He said wickets in the West Indies are under-prepared because groundsmen are not putting the kind of effort which was seen in the past.

Gibbs, who broke Fred Truemen's world record of 309 in 1976, said Caribbean cricket is passing through a transition and it will be again at the top in the international level within a couple of years.

"All the top teams had gone through the same problems in the past. Look at England, South Africa, India and Pakistan, they are back on track," he said. He said England struggled for a few years and they were now looking to offer Australia a great challenge in the upcoming Test series. "England have improved a lot under Michael Vaughan and it will be good series to watch," he predicted. "Pakistan are doing well under Inzamam-ul-Haq and they are developing into a formidable team," he maintained. "They have exciting cricketers in their line-up and they are doing very well," he added.

He negated the impressions that West Indian cricket is struggling because most of the potential players are heading towards the United States for baseball and basketball.

He said West Indian teenagers lost to Pakistan in the Junior World Cup in Bangladesh which showed they got the talent.

"There is no need to get panicky. West Indies will bounce back," he asserted.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only. This article is published courtesy of APP
Copyright © 2005 APP)