Chanderpaul delighted to have senior players back

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the West Indies captain, said yesterday that he is hopeful he can defeat the home team in Australia later this year now that he has his three best batsmen back in the team.

Chanderpaul said the return of Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan will boost the side's chances of beating world champions Australia. The three batsmen missed the last tour of Sri Lanka due to contract disputes between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association.

"I'm delighted to have the senior men back. They are three great batters and they will help to boost the team," he said. "They would boost any team anywhere in the world."

The 31-year-old Chanderpaul will be leading the team to Australia for the first time. Australia lost their last series to England, but Chanderpaul noted that this would mean they would be looking to rebound in a strong way.

"The Aussies will be hungry and they will be coming at us hard," he said. "We will have to be on our 'A' game... It's going to be tough, but we have showed in the past we can beat the best."