The 26 year old Rose, who was named in the 13 man squad for the first three Test matches, never got into the final XI and was left out of the squad for the fourth Test, appears set to be part of a four-pronged pace attack for the traditionally fast and bouncy Kensington pitch.
Right-arm legspinner Dinanath Ramnarine, who made his debut in the fourth Test and enjoyed a successful first innings, will almost certainly not be in the line up, and so it appears, neither will pacer Ian Bishop who was selected for the Bourda Test ahead of fast bowler Nixon because of what expected to be a slow pitch, and according to the selectors, because of his experience.
Apart from the fact the Kensington Oval pitch will be kind to the faster bowlers, but for a few good deliveries in his first spell at Bourda, Bishop did not bowl well.
Will Rose be in for the fifth Test?
``I cannot answer that,'' said Wes Hall, chairman of the selection committee, yesterday. ``There are five of us selecting the team. I don't know what the final XI will be, but I expect Rose to be in the squad. Jamaica is not in action in this round of the President's Cup, but I hope he is training.''
The general feeling in Barbados is that unless something unexpected happens, unless someone does something really outstanding, the four bowlers for the fifth Test, at Kensington Oval should be Curtley Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, McLean and Rose.
Rose has taken 26 wickets in nine Test matches - including six against India in his first innings, and as it was in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, cricket fans in Barbados are asking these questions. What has happened to Franklyn Rose, why is he not playing? Has he done somebody something?
The selectors have said nothing, but apart from his omission in Jamaica when Mervyn Dillon and McLean were selected of him and when Bishop came in for an injured Dillon, it appears that it has been 'horses for courses'.
It is understood Kenneth Benjamin was called in for the two matches at Queen's Park Oval because of the grass on the pitch and his ability to get the ball to seam, and Ramnarine and Bishop were used in the Bourda match because of the slow pitch.
If it comes down to 'horses for courses', then it should be Ambrose and Walsh with their skill and experience, McLean and Rose with their pace for the Kensington pitch