South Africa aim for West Indies whitewash

Shaun Pollock will be the key to South Africa's success in the Caribbean © Getty Images

Ray Jennings, the South Africa coach, is looking to inflict a 4-0 whitewash on the West Indies when the first Test begins on March 31 in Guyana. South Africa, who arrive this week in the Caribbean, were likely to face a West Indies side minus their leading players, including Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle, after the sponsorship dispute failed to reach a resolution.

"With or without their best players I want to come back with wins in the Tests and ODIs," Jennings, who is looking for a long term position as coach, told Reuters. "It's the most crucial series of my career. I'm looking for a whitewash."

West Indies selectors omitted the leading players from the side due to their personal endorsement contracts with Cable and Wireless, a rival of the current team sponsor Digicel. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was named the captain after Brian Lara gave a non-committal response to an invitation sent by the West Indies Cricket Board asking him to join the team.

However, South Africa was hoping that the matter was resolved before the team arrived later this week. "I'm sure they'll work something out before the first Test," said Shaun Pollock to The Sunday Argus. "The missing guys form the core of their side and it would be silly if they missed out. From a personal point of view, I would be disappointed if we didn't play against their strongest team."

"People need to understand that the West Indies are unique in that, strictly speaking, they're not playing for their country; they're playing for a collective entity made up of different independent islands," said Pollock, who also led the side during the 2001 tour of the West Indies when they won the Test series 2-1 and the ODI series 5-2. "That makes a big difference to their outlook and can lead to complications."

Pollock, who has not yet recovered from his ankle injury, said that he could miss the first two Tests if his injury persisted. "It's still niggling me. I can run okay, although there's a little bit of pain, but it's slamming the left foot down that is the problem. It's basically a wear and tear injury that's been equated to patella tendonitis [tennis elbow] that's difficult to get rid of unless you rest it."

South Africa enjoys an overall impressive record against the West Indies. In the 15 Tests played between these teams, South Africa have won 10 and lost only two.