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Kingston – Franklyn Rose, called a “bad boy” of regional cricket, is saying all the right things these days.

Out of the West Indies team for almost a year because of injury and discipline reasons, Rose seems determined to put the past behind him now that he has been chosen for the forthcoming tour of New Zealand.

“Many things have changed and I have learnt a lot during the time,” the Jamaican fast bowler was quoted by the Caribbean News Agency as saying.

“I know that I am in form now as far as my bowling is concerned, but I don’t want to get carried away with complacency.

“From what I have heard, the pitches are slow in New Zealand, but I am looking forward to the tour. All I have to do in such conditions is concentrate on my swing,” Rose said.

He has even promised to work harder on his batting which has not lived up to its early promise.

“I was watching myself on television recently, with my brother and mother and I felt embarrassed by the way I was batting on the tapes,” he said. “I have been working on my batting and have been getting a few half centuries in club cricket. It’s now up to me to go out there and perform to the best of my ability.”

Rose, 27, has played 11 Tests and has taken 34 wickets at an average of 25 each. He has appeared in 13 one-day-internationals and taken ten wickets at 51.60 runs apiece.

He was summoned before the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) after his last tour of South Africa and told to settle an outstanding hotel bill before he could be considered for further West Indies selection.

The matter was settled in September but Rose was ignored for subsequent One-Day tours to Asia and North America.

Rose said he will miss the guidance of former team coach Malcolm Marshall, who died from colon cancer earlier this month.

“I followed his advice in my first Test match (against India at Sabina Park in 1996) and it paid off as I took seven wickets in the match (including six for 100 in the first innings of the opening Test).

“I learned a lot from Marshall and I hope that we will get another bowling coach soon who can fill his shoes,” Rose said.

Ironically, Marshall was highly critical of Rose during the South Africa series.

“Franklyn Rose had his ups and downs on tour. He was injured – his shoulder and his heel. He did not play early on. Although he was injured he was seen out several times in the night but in the Test match in Durban he did bowl exceptionally well.

“It was unfortunate that he got injured because he looked by far the best of the three young fast bowlers,” Marshall said in his report on the ill-starred tour of South Africa when the West Indies were humbled 5-0 in the Test series.

“Franklyn’s only problem is his attitude. There is no problem with Franklyn in his ability because he can bowl and he is the one swing bowler in the squad but he has a very bad attitude and he lacks respect.

“This is one area that he needs to brush up on if he is to play for the West Indies and be successful or play for a long period,” wrote Marshall in his report to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Team manager Clive Lloyd wrote in his report that Rose was a “very talented young man whose priorities and attitudes to work undermine his development and progress.

“I was disappointed with his whole attitude during the tour. The tragedy is that this is a very young man. He sits on the threshold of great things if he learns to curb his temper and fuel his energies and fire into his cricket,” Lloyd wrote.

Rose is aiming to do just that.

© The Barbados Nation