England looking to seal historic series victory over Windies

Thursday, April 1, 2004

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AFP): England need to draw or win to seal their first Test series victory over West Indies in the Caribbean for 36 years in the third cricket Test, starting on Thursday at Kensington Oval.

No one, least of all Michael Vaughan and his side, expected England to be leading the four-Test series 2-0 with two matches remaining.

But they have completely outplayed their opponents with disciplined cricket that has highlighted the deep cracks in the West Indies armour.

There is even speculation that England could claim their first series whitewash in the Caribbean, although they should cast their minds back to Australia's tour last year and South Africa's three years ago when those two sides failed in similar bids.

The home team have been rocked by the resignation of Ricky Skerritt, their manager for the last four years, but the West Indies Cricket Board has brought in Tony Howard, the former Test off-spin bowler and manager of the Barbados team that has dominated domestic West Indies cricket over the last two years in particular.

West Indies will be hoping the same virtues that Howard has extolled in those representing his native Barbados, six of whom join him for this Test, will rub off on the rest of the unit and help to transform the complexion of a series that for all intents and purposes has been all one-way traffic.

West Indies are likely to make two changes to their line-up that lost the second Test at Port of Spain by seven wickets. 

Adam Sanford has been dropped and Fidel Edwards has been brought back to bolster the pace attack that will be staffed by all Barbadians. It has been 20 years since Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Wayne Daniel and Milton Small - all Barbadians - formed the West Indies pace bowling attack against Australia at Port of Spain.

The other change is likely to come in the middle of the batting. For all his talent, Dwayne Smith batted carelessly in the second Test and his place looks under threat from left-hander compatriot Ryan Hinds.

A third chance could also be on the cards. Opening batsman Devon Smith injured a finger during a private practice session in his native Grenada and there is some doubt about his ability to last five days.

Deciding to be safe rather than sorry, the West Indies selectors have drafted Daren Ganga, who struggled in the position on the recent tour of South Africa, into the squad to cover for Smith.

England have no such concerns. They would, however, love for Vaughan or Trescothick or both to hit some rich form in the Test, but they would be generally satisfied with the way the batting has gone in the Tests.

Trescothick's scores in the series have been 7, 6 not out, 1 and 4, while Vaughan has scores of 11 not out, 15, 0 and 23.

Fortunately for England, their three batting veterans - Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe - have compensated with the help of the gritty lower order.

The Kensington Oval pitch has been under the care of a new curator. Richard Applewhaite prepares the pitches at the nearby Empire Club, where the strip has been affectionately dubbed, 'The Lawn'.

Although the pitches for the previous two Tests have offered the bowlers pace, bounce and movement, much to the joy of Steve Harmison and company, if Applewhaite and his team can get it right, both sides will likely enjoy the surface.

Squads:
West Indies (from): Brian Lara (capt), Tino Best, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Ricardo Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith.

England (from): Michael Vaughan (capt), James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Mark Butcher, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Nasser Hussain, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Chris Read Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe.

Umpires: Darrell Hair, Rudi Koertzen (TV Replays: Billy Doctrove).
Match referee: Mike Procter

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