Chandra Back On Bourda

Depressingly short of batting of genuine class and experience, the West Indies selectors have fast-tracked Shivnarine Chanderpaul back into the team for the first Test against Pakistan, starting at Bourda on Friday.

He was included yesterday in the squad of 14 from whom the final XI will be chosen, announced by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) public relations consultants, yesterday, without comment.

Chanderpaul had complained of weariness after the two Tests against Zimbabwe in March. Doctors diagnosed acute fatigue syndrome, the same affliction that put former captain Richie Richardson out for six months in five years ago, and ordered him to take three weeks rest.

He was cleared to play by the WICB after a fitness test last week and, although he has not had a match since the second Zimbabwe Test March 28, his record of 39 Tests and an average of 39.77 was enough to guarantee his recall.

This, after all, is a team minus Brian Lara and with four batsmen in the 14 Adrian Griffith, Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle and newcomer Ramnaresh Sarwan with a mere 11 Tests between them.

The selectors have also made choices that are of more relevance to the longer term.

They have preferred the 19-year-old Guyanese Sarwan to Ricardo Powell as the strokeplaying right-handed batsman in the middle order, brought back Nixon McLean instead of Merv Dillon or any of the other candidates as the fast bowling reserve and, for the first time, picked Mahendra Nagamootoo, another Guyanese, ahead of Dinanath Ramnarine and Rawl Lewis, the previously used leg-spinners.

Since missing last year's home series against Australia with a shoulder injury, the left-handed Chanderpaul has struggled to regain the reliability that had been his hallmark since his debut as a 19- year-old in 1994.

Yet his presence will be a comfort to captain Jimmy Adams and vicecaptain Sherwin Campbell, the only two other batsmen with more than 35 Tests each. He will be returning to a familiar and welcoming home environment at Bourda where, in his last Test on the ground, he accumulated the second of his two Test hundreds.

There are several options when it comes time to whittle the 14 down to 11.

Inspite of Mike Findlay's silly disclaimers, Sarwan was clearly, if wrongly, omitted from the Under-23 match against the Pakistanis with the Test in mind. As a right-hander in a troop of left-handers, there is a strong case for preferring him to one of Adrian Griffith, Wavell Hinds and Chris Gayle, but selectors are always wary to change winning teams.

Team:

Jimmy Adams captain, Courtney Walsh, Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle, Franklyn Rose (Jamaica), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Reon King, Mahendra Nagamootoo (Guyana), Sherwin Campbell vicecaptain, Adrian Griffith (Barbados), Ridley Jacobs, Curtly Ambrose (Leewards), Nixon McLean (Windwards).

Manager: Ricky Skerritt, Coach: Roger Harper.