Taylor's fitness to be assessed ahead of England tour

Jerome Taylor, the West Indies fast bowler, will undergo a fitness test to determine whether he will be available for the England tour. Taylor had missed the final home Test and the one-day series against England with a side strain before a motor accident ruled him out of the IPL.

"Paul Campbell, president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and David Cameron, vice-president of the WICB, will arrange a fitness test for him," team manager Omar Khan said, "and once he is okay, he will be expected to join the team by April 27."

The West Indies squad - except Chris Gayle and Fidel Edwards who will have a short stint in the IPL, and senior players Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan - left for England on Wednesday.

Denesh Ramdin will lead the team during three warm-up games in the absence of Gayle, who will join the squad ahead of the first Test. Ramdin drew confidence from the 1-0 victory against England in the recent Tests in the Caribbean, which was their first series win against serious opposition in five years.

"We did well against them here and it's the same guys, so we just need to go out there and put everything together," Ramdin said. "So far, the guys have done the job for us, so I don't see why we should not go out there and do it again."

Ramdin acknowledged England would be tougher opponents in their backyard but didn't think they would have too much of an advantage. "They are playing at home and they are going to come at us ... they are used to their conditions," he said. "A lot of the younger players played a lot of league cricket in England, so it's not an unusual experience; they just have to go out there and execute."