West Indies injury ease

Already shorn of the three fast bowlers used in the preceding series against South Africa and their leading batsman, the West Indies are confident, more than just hopeful, that they won't be further weakened by injuries for the first Test against Zimbabwe.

Manager Ricky Skerritt said yesterday vice-captain Ridley Jacobs, legspinner Dinanath Ramnarine and fast bowler Reon King should all have recovered from various ailments to be ready come the first ball tomorrow.

Already, Merv Dillon and Cameron Cuffy, who joined the retired great Courtney Walsh to spearhead the attack against the South Africans, have had to return home as has world double record-holder Brian Lara.

Jacobs, the solitary wicket-keeper in the squad of 16, prompted understandable concern on Monday when he was confined to bed with what were thought to be the early symptoms of flu.

He took no part in the last day of the drawn match against Zimbabwe A at Kweke, but Skerritt said that move was precautionary more than anything else.

Ridley's still sniffling but he's much improved and I'd expect him to be in good order for the Test, he said.

Jacobs has played in every Test and One-Day International since he was belatedly brought into the team on the tour of South Africa nearly three years ago.

He was already disqualified from the second and final Test, starting in Harare June 23, by match referee Dennis Lindsay's suspension for an incident in the preceding triangular one-day series with India and Zimbabwe.

Courtney Browne, originally chosen to replace him for the subsequent tour of Zimbabwe, has had his arrival brought forward in the circumstances. But he does not arrive in Zimbabwe until tonight, too late to come in should Jacobs be incapacitated.

It is a potentially embarrassing situation Mike Findlay and his selection panel might want to consider when they come to pick the team for the next tour, to Sri Lanka in November and December.

Ramnarine, who replaced Mahendra Nagamootoo following the One-Day series, strained side muscles in bowling 44 overs and King had lower back problems after 28.4 overs in three-day match against the President's XI in Harare that ended on July 11.

Skerritt noted that team therapist Ronald Rogers had given Ramnarine a trial, bowling in the nets, but didn't push him too hard.

Ronald seems convinced Ramnarine will be fit enough to be available for selection but we won't be certain until our final practice session tomorrow (today), he said.

According to Skerritt, King was in good enough shape to have played in the most recent match against Zimbabwe A but the spate of injuries had influenced the tour committee to rest him.

King and fellow Guyanese Colin Stuart seem the two certain fast bowling choices, with Marlon Black and Corey Collymore contending for the third place.

Stuart, overlooked since his two debut Tests in Australia in December, is a wholehearted bowler who keeps surprising batsmen with his deceptive pace. In the recent high-scoring match at Kweke, his return of five for 58 from 17 overs was in stark contrast to the unflattering figures of Collymore (none for 102 from 19) and Black (three for 122 from 29).

Black, returning to the team as one of two replacements since the mugging in Australia in February that injured his bowling shoulder, had little time to settle down. But Collymore's figures belied the controlled bowler who earned the Man-Of-The-Match award in the final of the One-Day series.

If there are justifiable concerns that the patch-work bowling will be hard-pressed to dismiss Zimbabwe twice on reliable pitches, even without their injured talisman Andy Flower and even given the present internal problems, the West Indies batting starts the match in excellent order.

Chris Gayle, the tall, powerful left-handed opener, has emphatically confirmed his appetite for big scores first established when he was a schoolboy and further endorsed in the last two Busta Cups. He has reeled of scores of 259 not out, 164 and 99 in successive innings with a combined total of 67 fours along with four sixes that all came in his last innings.

Skerritt rated Gayle's hitting the hardest he had ever seen and his improvement from the batsman who struggled in English conditions last year remarkable.

He has worked on his game and he is now more selective in his shots and is hitting the ball along the ground, he said. Above all, he is playing with tremendous confidence.

No one else has managed a hundred but captain Carl Hooper was only five short at Kweke and only Wavell Hinds of the others has failed to pass 50.

Only the form of Shivnarine Chanderpaul (8, 52, 0 and 17 in the buildup matches) is cause for concern in the batting for someone filling the No.3 position.