Disregarding those who have made no progress since given their chance on last year's ``A'' tour of South Africa, they turned to Darren Ganga, the 19-year-old right-handed Trinidad and Tobago top-order batsman, as their latest hope for the future.
Kept faith
They kept faith with Stuart Williams, in preference to Sherwin Campbell, as one of the openers in spite of the wide disparity in their Test averages and chose Ridley Jacobs and Junior Murray as much for their batting as their wicketkeeping.
The 14 for the nine-team One-Day tournament in Bangladesh October 24-November 4 was less contentious. All those chosen figured in the 4-1 triumph over England in last season's limited-overs series.
Announcement of the ``A'' team to India was put on hold until the tour, scheduled for November and December, is finalised following continuing negotiations between the two boards.
Stating that the batting would decide the outcome of the five-Test series in South Africa, captain Brian Lara gave this as an explaination why nine specialist batsmen, along with the two 'keepers, had been chosen. There are five, rather than the usual six, fast bowlers along with leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine.
``Our batting, I must say, leaves a lot to be desired,'' Lara said. ``There are some players who seem to be around for a very long time and not pulling their weight.''
Ganga leapfrogs other youthful contenders Leon Garrick, Wavel Hinds, Floyd Reifer and Ramnaresh Sarwan who all failed to advance their claims for promotion on the ``A'' team in South Africa and in last season's President's Cup.
Lara, who has seen a lot of him for Trinidad and Tobago, described Ganga as ``a well organised player, very mature for his age''.
Ganga's maiden first-class hundred, 138 against Barbados in last seaason's President's Cup, gave critical support to Lara's assessment – and that of then England captain Mike Atherton.
Atherton rated him the best young batsman he had seen on England's tour of the Caribbean after Ganga's 41 in the two-day territorial match.
Otherwise, Ganga's record is modest. He averages 23.58 in nine first-class matches since his debut in 1997 and did little for the West Indies team at the youth World Cup in South Africa in January.
In choosing Williams over Campbell, the selectors have shown they are not necessarily guided by statistics.
Campbell, the little Barbadian, has been the only consistent opening batsman since the dissolution of the great Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes partnership eight years ago.
He averages 37.02 in his 30 Tests since 1995 and his record overseas, in 16 Tests in New Zealand, England, Australia and Pakistan, is even more imposing at an average of 42.
Less than a year ago, averaging 41 in the three lost Tests, he repeatedly stood defiant while the West Indies capitulated to the powerful Pakistan attack of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq.
On return to the Caribbean, his form and confidence deserted him, he passed 50 only once in 16 innings in Tests and President's Cup matches last season and was dropped from the Test side.
Now he must restore his technique and his self-assurance and restate his claims on the ``A'' team tour of India, probably as captain.
Roller-coaster
Williams has had a roller-coaster ride since his Test debut in India in 1994. He was dropped against England at the same time as Campbell, making way for Clayton Lambert and Philo Wallace who were immediately successful.
His slack footwork was so exposed by the Pakistanis, he could average only ten in the Tests and he fell four times in six innings against England to catches to slips or 'keeper. He finished the season strong with an unbeaten 108 against Jamaica in the President's Cup and an important 68 in the second One-Day International, factors that seem to have influenced his recall.
The other picks were predictable.
The omission of fast bowler Ian Bishop, finally defeated by the technical problems brought on by his serious back problems, and batsman Roland Holder, who never made full use of his few and far between chances, probably signal the end of their Test careers.
Yet, the retention of the in-and-out, up-and-down Jimmy Adams for South Africa and the return of Keith Arthurton for the limited-overs team, aged 32, for his ebullient fielding as much as his batting, will give them continuing hope.