By Paul Grunill

Stress fractures of the spine are an occupational hazard for fast bowlers.

Sri Lanka had no answer to Collymore at Sabina Park

One player well acquainted with the problem is West Indies seam bowler Corey Collymore.

After making his Test debut against Australia in April 1999, he had to wait four years and two months for a second chance.

West Indies played 45 Tests in the intervening period with Collymore seemingly written off as a one-day specialist by the selectors - a policy regarded as "a mishap" by batting star Brian Lara.

But the 25-year-old's perseverance brought its reward in the home series just completed against Sri Lanka.

After taking 5-66 in the drawn Test in St Lucia, Collymore claimed 7-57 in the second match in Jamaica to put West Indies on course for a series-clinching victory.

They were the best figures in a Test by a West Indies bowler since Courtney Walsh took 7-37 against New Zealand in 1995.

It is perhaps no surprise that Collymore was carrying an injury as he ran through the Sri Lankan batting line-up - although this time it was a sore ankle.

Numerous fast bowlers have been tried and discarded by the West Indies since Collymore won his first Test cap, under Lara's captaincy, as back-up to Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.

Struck down with back problems in his teens, he recovered to take 29 wickets in domestic cricket in early 1999, earning him a place in the team for the Antigua Test.

It's unfortunate that Corey had to wait four or five years for a recall after his first Test match Brian Lara

It proved a sobering experience as Greg Blewett was Collymore's sole victim in a 176-run Australian victory and soon after he was again sidelined by a recurrence of his old trouble.

He returned for the 2000 tour to England with then chairman of selectors Mike Findlay declaring: "This young man has so much talent that we need to capitalise on it."

Collymore performed respectably, taking 15 wickets in six first-class games, but it was not deemed good enough to earn him a Test recall.

And it stayed that way through subsequent series as the likes of Marlon Black, Pedro Collins, Cameron Cuffy, Reon King, Colin Stuart, Adam Sanford were given opportunities, with Collymore consigned to the one-day squad.

He took 4-49, including the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, as West Indies beat India in the final of a triangular tournament in Zimbabwe in 2001.

And Collymore improved on those figures with 5-51 in a one-day game against Sri Lanka later the same year.

Nowaays a bowler of respectable, if not express, pace, but one capable of moving the ball both ways off the seam, he managed only one appearance in the World Cup earlier this year.

But the decision to relieve Carl Hooper of the captaincy, and put Lara in charge for the second time was good news for Collymore.

COLLYMORE FACTFILE Born: 21.12.1977 Boscobelle, Barbados First-class record: 108 wickets, average 22.52, best bowling 6-109 Test record: 15 wickets in three matches, average 17.86, best bowling 7-57 ODI record: 49 wickets in 42 matches, average 31.34, best bowling 5-51

Lara had not lost his belief that the Barbadian could be an effective weapon in Test cricket - and his judgment has been proved correct.

One moment in St Lucia underlined Collymore's ability as Kaushal Lokuarachchi was turned square by a perfect leg-cutter which took the shoulder of the bat and was caught at slip by Lara.

"I'm bowling a bit slower than before, but I've been working on swinging the ball, concentrating on line and length and sticking to the basics," said Collymore.

Of equal importance in Jamaica was his willingness to shoulder extra responsibility as the spearhead of an attack which included two players with only three Test caps between them, Jerome Taylor and debutant Fidel Edwards.

Former NFL coach Mike Ditka was once quoted as saying: "You are never a loser until you quit trying."

In those terms, Collymore is a born winner.