The real test for West Indies

Kingstown - The real test now begins. For all of their impressive record during the last few weeks, the West Indies team, under a new captain, coach and manager, are wary that their showdown against Pakistan starting here today will be a far different proposition to the challenge that Zimbabwe presented.

It was a point stressed yesterday by manager Ricky Skerritt ahead of the latest match in the triangular limited-overs series at the lovely Arnos Vale Playing Field sandwiched between the E.T Joshua Airport and the Caribbean Sea. `We have considered every day of cricket we have played so far on this tour a very important day and we are going to take that attitude no matter who we meet,' Skerritt said.

`We are aware that Pakistan have a much more impressive record than Zimbabwe, but we were quite impressed by the competitiveness of Zimbabwe.' The match might mean little in determining which teams qualify for the finals, but it presents a chance for West Indies to reverse their remarkable succession of defeats.

It is being played on a ground where they lost only once in nine One-Day Internationals and Vincentians will want to see nothing less than victory on what is a public holiday here. West Indies and Pakistan are almost certain to meet in the two-best-of-three finals starting in Barbados a week today, but before that, Jimmy Adams' men will be desperate to end an eight-match losing streak against their unpredictable opponents.

West Indies lost to Pakistan six times last year, some of which were embarrassing, and their overall record reads only one win in their last 11 matches dating back to the 1996-97 World Series Cup in Australia. During the 1999 Sharjah Cup, Pakistan twice humbled the West Indies by overwhelming margins of more than 100 runs and the Caribbean side will have to look back to December 12, 1997, to find their last instance of a victory over the Pakistanis.

Pakistan, comfortable five-wicket winners over Zimbabwe in their opening match at the Antigua Recreation Ground last Wednesday, practised yesterday with their champion fast bowler Wasim Akram, who arrived Monday night after leading an Asian side against a Rest of the World XI in Bangladesh on Saturday. Wasim, the only player in the game with more than 400 wickets in One-Day Internationals, will come in for either leg-spinner Musthaq Ahmed or off-spinner Arshad Khan and there may also be the temptation to bring in batsman Mohammad Wasim for out-of-form teenaged opener Imran Nazir.

The teams:

West Indies - Jimmy Adams (captain), Philo Wallace, Sherwin Campbell, Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs, Franklyn Rose, Curtly Ambrose, Nixon McLean, Reon King, Reserves: Sylvester Joseph, Nehemiah Perry, Laurie Williams.

Pakistan from: - Moin Khan (captain), Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhanna, Abdur Razzaq, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Musthaq Ahmed, Mohammad Akram, Arshad Khan, Mohammad Wasim.

Umpires: Steve Bucknor (Jamaica), Basil Morgan (Montserrat).

TV replays: George Browne (St. Vincent).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Playing times: 9:35 a.m. - 1:05 p.m.; 1:50 p.m. - close (scheduled 5:20 p.m.)