Dyson ready for ultimate test

The West Indies coach John Dyson is about to face his toughest assignment against the world champions, but he is confident of a strong performance against his former team. Dyson, who played 30 Tests for Australia in the 1970s and 80s, knows the series will be a huge examination for his men and has picked 17 of them for a five-day camp starting on Monday.

While the big names of Chris Gayle, who has a groin injury, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo are missing from the list, the large collection includes many of the players who faced Sri Lanka in March and April. "We know it will be tough against Australia, but we are ready for that challenge," Dyson said. "We are looking forward to getting all the players in the right frame of mind.

"What I like about the group we have here is the consistency of selection. Those selected will know what is required. We are happy with the group that we have and we are confident as we prepare for the series."

Daren Powell, Darren Sammy and Jerome Taylor have been chosen while Kieron Pollard, Runako Morton, Denesh Ramdin and Marlon Samuels were also part of the 2-0 one-day win over Sri Lanka. "This is an opportunity to continue the work we did against Sri Lanka," Dyson said. "Our last Test was a win and our last one-day series was also a win.

"We believe the bulk of the team against Australia will come from the squad that played against Sri Lanka." The first Test starts in Jamaica on May 22 before the contest moves to Antigua and Barbados.

West Indies training squad Sulieman Benn, Patrick Browne, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Hinds, Amit Jaggernauth, Runako Morton, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Brenton Parchment, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.