London- While the West Indies are optimistic Franklyn Rose and Shivnarine Chanderpaul will recover from muscle strains in time for the second Test, starting at Lord's on Thursday, England learned yesterday they will have to make do without captain

London-There is only one possible place available in the West Indies team for next week's second Test, and it is open to claimants in the one and only remaining first-class match, against New Zealand 'A' over four days in Chelmsford, starting today

Birmingham-Brian Lara provided more clear evidence yesterday that he has regained his craving for cricketeting success

Birmingham - Brian Lara seems destined to be forever pursued by persistent controversy

Birmingham- The all-for-one, one-for-all team ethic that has been the most heartening aspect of Jimmy Adams' leadership was obvious again as the West Indies batted their way into a powerful position on the second day of the first Test yesterday

Birmingham - Some things never change and few have been as enduring in cricket as Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose persecuting the opposition, most notably England, in the cause of the West Indies

Arundel- His mother Pearl's illness very nearly kept Brian Lara from the current England tour

Arundel, England ' In deference to their seniority and their importance the West Indies have taken the rare decision to send Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh into the first Test on Thursday without any match'practice in the two weeks they would have

Glamorgan - 'We're getting pretty used to close games, 'Jimmy Adams observed with some understatement after the West Indies' latest scrape yesterday

The headlines in the British Press were as sizeable as they were inevitable

The West Indies set off on their latest cricketing assignment last night unrecognisable as the nervous, insecure and untried team that Zimbabwe needed only 99 to beat in the first Test of what has been an uplifting home season

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Replenish the valiums, recheck the heart condition and, just in case, place the champagne on ice

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The sign of the cross, a gesture of praise and gratitude for all Christians, has taken on a diametrically opposite meaning for West Indian cricketers over the past week

Aided by a timid, belated Pakistan declaration, the West Indies grimly, but in the end comfortably, held on for a draw in the second Test

It resembles a Kensington Oval pitch of 1960s vintage 'flat and grassless 'and there is a reason for it

Jimmy Adams gave Brian Lara's return to the West Indies team an enthusiastic, unequivocal seal of approval yesterday

Pakistan's cricketers have plenty to bother them two days prior to the second Test against the West Indies at Kensington Oval on Thursday