Test stars return to domestic action

Allrounder Dwayne Bravo and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin will join the Trinidad and Tobago side as they tackle Jamaica in their second match of the 2006 Carib Beer Series at the UWI ground at the St Augustine campus beginning Friday. But former West Indies fast bowler Mervyn Dillon has been omitted from the national line-up.

Both Bravo and Ramdin had good performances on the West Indies tour to Australia, as Bravo impressed with bat and ball, recording his second Test century, while Ramdin shone with the bat and behind the stumps as well. The Ganga-led T&T squad also includes West Indies Under-19 vice-captain Jason Mohammed, who stroked a confident 117 against the Ganga XI last weekend, as well as allrounder Richard Kelly, who had a strong bowling performance in the same trial match.

The regional fixture was originally scheduled for the Wilson Road Recreation Ground in Penal, but due to bad weather, the ground preparations will not be completed in time and the match has been shifted to St Augustine.

Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels and Jermaine Lawson have been predictably included in Jamaica's 13-man squad, named on Friday for the match. The 29-year-old Hinds will resume leadership of the team, replacing Tamar Lambert who led the unit for the first two matches of the Carib Beer Series while Hinds was away on West Indies duty. All three players, however, will suit up for the January 6-9 game with some question marks over their form.

Hinds enters the match short of form after scoring just 17 in the three-day practice game that concluded Friday. In his only Test on the tour Down Under, Hinds recorded scores of 10 and 15. Samuels, who returned early from the tour of Australia through injury, will also enter Friday's match in Trinidad with dodgy form after scoring 32 and 1 in the practice game. His four innings in Australia also yielded paltry returns, with 56 runs in just four Test innings, despite amassing 257 against Queensland in the opening tour match. Lawson also struggled on the Australian tour and was dropped after the first Test in Brisbane, where his 20 overs cost 120 runs with just one wicket to show for his efforts. West Indies opener Chris Gayle, who underwent surgery in Australia during the West Indies tour to correct a long-standing heart defect, was not considered.

Barbados recalled Tino Best and Dwayne Smith to the team for the upcoming Carib Beer four-day match against the Windward Islands starting Friday at the Tanteen Cricket Ground.

Chairman of selectors Joel Garner said the duo would replace left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and right-arm pacer Antonio Thomas who were in the team for the first match against Guyana. "We have kept what we believe is strong team," said Garner, who will accompany the side to Grenada. "The two West Indies players are back and we hope they will do well and add strength to the side."

The Barbados team has been on a break since the end of November, after taking first innings points from their drawn opening match against Guyana at the Everest Cricket Ground. They were slated to play against Trinidad and Tobago in early December but that match was put back until February by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Since the Christmas break, the team has been training at the 3Ws Oval and the Carlton Cricket Club. Wendell Coppin, the WICB's development officer, along with former West Indies players Vasbert Drakes and Ottis Gibson, has conducted the operations.

West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and his deputy Ramnaresh Sarwan will boost the Guyana team for their Carib Beer Series match against the Leeward Islands starting on January 13. Chanderpaul will take over the captaincy from stand-in skipper Reon King who led the squad in the first match against Barbados. Both Chanderpaul and Sarwan missed the first round game because of international commitments with the West Indies team in Australia.

Batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon has also returned to the team after injury while fast bowler Rayon Griffith has been recalled after being overlooked for the first match. Steven Jacobs, Damodar Daesrath and former West Indies Under-19 captain Andre Percival have been omitted from the travelling 13-man party to Philipsburg, St Maarten. The team will play a four-day practice match against a Rest Team, skippered by Percival, from January 5-8 at the Enmore Community Centre ground.

Jamaica squad Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Xavier Marshall, Shawn Findlay, Tamar Lambert, Brenton Parchment, David Bernard Jr, Carlton Baugh Jr, Gareth Breese, Nikita Miller, Jermaine Lawson, Andrew Richardson, Jerome Taylor.

Barbados squad Ryan Hinds (capt), Ian Bradshaw, Dale Richards, Wayne Blackman, Alcindo Holder, Patrick Browne, Kurt Wilkinson, Floyd Reifer, Ryan Nurse, Ryan Austin, Jason Bennett, Tino Best, Dwayne Smith.

Guyana squad Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Krishna Arjune, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Derwin Christian, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Neil McGarrell, Reon King, Esaun Crandon, Rayon Griffith, Imran Jafarally.

Trinidad & Tobago squad Daren Ganga (capt), Tishan Maraj, Gregory Mahabir, Denesh Ramdin, Rayad Emrit, Sanjeev Gooljar, Imran Khan, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Richard Kelly, Dave Mohammed, Amit Jaggernauth, Sherwin Ganga.