|
REUTERS, MIAMI - West Indies were on a high just a month ago after test and one-day wins over Sri Lanka but with the opening test against Australia starting on Thursday a familiar air of uncertainty has returned to Caribbean cricket.
Captain and opening batsman Chris Gayle suffered a groin injury against Sri Lanka which stopped him playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has now ruled him out of the first test against the world champions.
Ramnaresh Sarwan will deputise for Gayle as skipper at Sabina Park but he will be without another frontline batsman in Marlon Samuels who was banned for two years for breaching the International Cricket Council's code of conduct.
"I think Marlon, over the past five or six months has played some very, very good cricket for us," said West Indies coach John Dyson.
"I was hoping of the team's sake and for Marlon's sake that against the Australians, he would continue to play very good cricket. I think the Australians were probably more suited to Marlon's game than the Sri Lankan attack and it is of great sadness that we won't have him," Australian Dyson added.
Jamaican Brenton Parchment, an opening batsman who has played just one test and has a first class average of 26.11, looks an inexperienced replacement for Gayle while Runako Morton has been given another chance in the middle-order after disappointing displays against South Africa.
The other worry concerns the three players who missed the training camp in Antigua due to their IPL commitments.
Sarwan, vice-captain and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and the team's most experienced batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul missed the camp and had long flights from India.
Dyson, though, believes they will be ready to face the world's number one team.
"They have been playing cricket. They are professional cricketers," he said. "They are our best performing players. They know what's required to do to get ready for a test series of this nature. They have been playing in the short version of the game, but as world-class players they will be able to make the adjustment," Dyson said.
The main selection dilemma concerns the bowling attack with the 14-man squad including three spinners in all-rounder Ryan Hinds, off-spinner Amit Juggernauth and slow left-armer Sulieman Benn.
West Indies squad: Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice-captain), Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Hinds, Amit Jaggernauth, Runako Morton, Darren Sammy, Devon Smith, Brenton Parchment, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wicketkeeper), Jerome Taylor.
|
News 
RSS