Baugh included in squad for last two ODIs

Carlton Baugh, the Jamaica wicketkeeper, replaces Denesh Ramdin in the West Indies team for the last two one-day internationals against Zimbabwe in Trinidad over the weekend. Ramdin is being rested ahead of the series against India starting May 18 in Jamaica.

Baugh, 23, has played five Tests and six ODIs for West Indies. His last appearance in a one-day match was in July 2004 in the NatWest series against New Zealand at Cardiff, scoring 7 in a five-wicket defeat.

But his recent performances include a series-clinching match for West Indies A against England A in March 2006. He scored 71 of 73 balls hitting four sixes, coming into bat at 50 for 5.

Ian Bradshaw, the left-arm seamer is back in the team after sitting out the three ODIs played in Guyana and St Lucia. He played in the first two matches in Antigua which West Indies won easily.

Sewnarine Chattergoon, the West Indies opening batsman was dropped to include Bradshaw in the team. West Indies have already won the seven-match series, leading 4-0.

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain is looking for more convincing victories in the last two ODIs. "Hopefully, these matches will be the start of something to come. We have a very important series, starting next Thursday against India, and the next 200 overs of ODIs against Zimbabwe, we must execute pretty well.

"I told the guys from the beginning that if we were batting second in any of the matches, we should try to achieve our target in less than 35 overs, and if we are bowling second, we should try to win the games by 100 runs."

Lara felt that West Indies had played good cricket though they had been slow in the field. "I think [Chris] Gayle and [Sewnarine] Chattergoon batted really well in that game, especially Chris who seems to be coming into some form. Others like [Ramnaresh] Sarwan, and myself, have not got a chance yet to make a big score. Hopefully, we will get big scores this weekend, and enter the ODI series against India with some confidence under our belts.

"I think the guys know that we can compete and beat India because we have done it in the past in India and the West Indies, so it is just a matter of getting mentally and physically ready and getting the confidence up."

Terrence Duffin, the Zimbabwe captain said that the idea was to keep trying to do the basics and then hope for a win. Duffin feels the team, which will play World Cup qualifiers Bermuda and Canada in a triangular series in Trinidad from May 16 to May 20, will gain experience from the current series. "This series will be a big help for us and, hopefully, we can prove something there."

Squads:

West Indies Brian Lara (captain), Christopher Gayle, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Carlton Baugh Jr, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo and Dave Mohammed.

Zimbabwe Terrence Duffin (captain), Piet Rinke, Brendan Taylor, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Justice Chibhabha, Charles Coventry, Elton Chigumbura, Gregory Strydom, Keith Dabengwa, Ryan Higgins, Keegan Meth, Blessing Mahwire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Prosper Utseya, Anthony Ireland