Hooper, Lara get ready

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa - Top batsmen Carl Hooper and Brian Lara, missing from recent West Indies assignments, return to action today as the two-time world champions tackle South African club side Free State in a warm-up match for the World Cup.

The West Indies play the first game in global championship this weekend and welcome the return of their two most experienced batsmen, six days before facing home side South Africa in the World Cup opener on Sunday in Cape Town.

Hooper missed the West Indies tour of Bangladesh in December to undergo knee surgery, and Lara has not played international cricket since falling ill in the Champions Trophy tournament in Sri Lanka last September.

Team coach Roger Harper took the side through training sessions Saturday and yesterday and is anxious to assess his side's readiness in match conditions against Free State.

"This is all part of the build-up towards our opening game," he told CMC Sport yesterday.

"We have had two good training sessions this weekend and we now want to get some match practice, relative to the conditions here, so we can see where we are for the tournament," Harper added.

West Indies are playing the extra batsman in today's game with the hard-hitting Ricardo Powell named in the line-up, leaving bowling spots only for Mervyn Dillon, Nixon McLean, and Corey Collymore.

After winning the first two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and 1979, West Indies have gone 24 years without international cricket's biggest One-Day prize, and team manager Ricky Skerritt is maintaining the positive vibes he exuded when the team left the Caribbean last week.

"The guys have remained very focused and they are working hard, the team spirit is high," Skerritt told CMC Sport.

Former Jamaica and West Indies skipper Jimmy Adams is the regular captain at Free State, but it is the off-season in South Africa and he is not in the country for the match.

The West Indies, scheduled to face Griqualand West in another warm-up game on Wednesday, will contest Pool "B" of the World Cup alongside South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya and Canada.

Team: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs, Nixon McLean, Mervyn Dillon, Corey Collymore. (CMC)