West Indies in England: 17th Man

The West Indies have abandoned the announced gamble of using captain Jimmy Adams and Wavell Hinds as back-up wicket-keepers to Ridley Jacobs on their tour of England and will summons 'Wayne Phillip as and when needed', manager Ricky Skerritt said yesterday.

He is needed right away and is included in the 11 for the opening match against Worcestershire at Worcester, starting today.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said yesterday it had arranged for Phillip, the 22-year-old Dominican, to join the MCC playing staff for the summer and that the selection committee had 'endorsed his availability' for the West Indies team 'as the tour management may see fit'.

'We'll rope him in as and when needed and that will probably mean for several more matches,' Skerritt said by telephone from the team's hotel last night.

Chairman of selectors Mike Findlay initially indicated that Adams and Hinds would fill in whenever the overworked Jacobs, the only specialist 'keeper in the 16, needed a rest.

But yesterday in a WICB Press release, the chairman said that Phillips' 'attachment to the MCC and his availability for West Indies tour matches will enable him to further improve his wicket-keeping and batting skills'.

The WICB release noted that Phillip would be available for tour matches other than Tests and One-Day Internationals. It did not state what the situation would be if, for some reason, Jacobs was unable to play in Tests or One-Day Internationals.

'The arrangement is that Wayne is not a member of the touring party as such but we will be free to borrow him from time to time, as has happened before with other players on earlier tours of England,' Skerritt said.

Jacobs has played in all 16 Tests and 50 One-Day Internationals since taking over the 'keeper's spot in the One-Day Internationals against England in the West Indies in 1998.

The gradual decline in his batting has reflected his fatigue.