Samuels and Hinds return to the fold

West Indies today named their preliminary 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy this September in England.

Brian Lara will lead the squad, and there were recalls for the likes of Merv Dillon, Corey Collymore, Daren Ganga, Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels, who has been out of action since November 2003 with a knee injury.

Joey Carew, the acting chairman of selectors, said the squad contained, in the main, players who have been involved in one-day cricket over the last couple of years, and that it was indicative of the continuity which the selectors felt was important for the stability of the squad.

Carew said: "Although in a sense, the selection is purely academic since the final squad of 14 has to be selected by 10 August, it gives an indication of who we have in mind to represent us in this important one-day tournament as we keep our focus on the World Cup."

He added that those players in the squad who were not currently in England must continue practising and playing where possible to ensure that they were fit and ready if selected in the final 14.

West Indies preliminary squad
Omari Banks, Carlton Baugh (wk), Jason Bennett, Tino Best, Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Merv Dillon, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ryan Hurley, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Sylvester Joseph, Brian Lara (capt), Jermaine Lawson, Ricardo Powell, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Adam Sandford, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Dwight Washington, Kurt Wilkinson.