West Indies v England: Let the games begin!!

Now that England have selected their squad, it is very obvious that their selectors have decided that they will give themselves every option for this 1st Test match. They have selected at least two spinners, Robert Croft (off-spin) and Chris Scofield (right arm leg-spin), while Andy Flintoff and Mark Ealam are the medium-paced allrounders, expected to swing the ball a bit if selected. Also selected are fast bowlers Andy Caddick, Darren Gough, Ed Giddings and new boy Steve Harmison.

Of course, the batting will be carried by the in-form Mike Atherton, Mark Ramprakash, captain Nasser Hussein, Nick Knight, Graham Hick and wicket-keeper/batsman Alec Stewart. That would suggest that none of the batsmen would be dropped, so the probable final England team would be these latter six batsmen, plus Robert Croft, Andy Flintoff, and fast bowlers Andy Caddick, Darren Gough and Ed Giddings.

That is probably as good a team as England could pick, with Robert Croft coming back into vogue with his five wickets against the West Indies for Glamargan last week, and the fact that the West Indies will probably have at least six players, Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs, Curtly Ambrose and maybe even Adrian Griffith and Nixon McLean, all who bat left-handed, in their batting line-up. The off-spinner could have a field day if the ball gives any hint of turn at Edgbaston.

Believe it or not, there is a bigger problem for the West Indies than just who will be playing for England. The West Indies selectors must first find out who will be playing for the West Indies. With the last Test in Antigua in mind, that should have been a foregone conclusion. However, the advent of Brian Lara to the squad, the lack of form for opener Adrian Griffith and the slight but worrying injury to Wavell Hinds all add up to uncertainty.

Perhaps Hinds' injury is the least of these problems. While he has been limping around and looking less than fully mobile these last few days, he will play if he can convince the selectors that he can withstand the rigors of five days. While he has not yet done as spectacularly as he had done in the Caribbean in his first full Test series, getting 340 runs, one would have to be crazy to not select the only "form" batsman from the last series.

Since we are all agreed that Brian Lara must play, and would have played even if he had made five zeros in a row, then someone has to be "sacrificed" for Lara to play.

Oh, before I go on, I would like to smile here for a bit. Everyone knows my views on Brian Lara. I want him to bat as he can and that would be great, period.

However, I am smiling because I am one of the very few in the Caribbean who agreed that Lara should have been selected in the first place. Even some very renowned former West Indian players disagreed with that sentiment. I am very sure that the selectors did the right thing by recalling the refreshed Brian Lara to the fold. I agree with that move wholeheartedly, even if he had not made that 176 against Zimbabwe, which in itself was a splendiferous innings, including twenty five fours and five sixes. Lara would still have been in my touring squad, not to mention my 1st Test team.

The big problem for the West Indies will be whom to drop, Adrian Griffith or Ramnaresh Sarwan. While neither have lit the place up, at least Sarwan has impressed a few with his poise and a few average innings. Griffith so far has been poor, at best. The problem is that these two are not interchangeable.

Griffith is an opener, while Sarwan is a middle-order batsman. Had Griffith been making runs, then it would have been a simple swap, with Lara replacing the unlucky Sarwan, despite his, Sarwan's sterling entry to Test cricket against Pakistan. The choice might simply come down to selecting either Sarwan or Griffith. That could be a tough decision, given their respective purposes in the normal West Indian batting line-up.

There could be a few solutions for the West Indies. IF, and a big IF, Wavell Hinds is fit, then he could open the batting with Sherwin Campbell. Hinds opens the innings for Jamaica, while batting No. 3 for the West Indies. That would mean that he would not be unaccustomed to opening the innings. Also, he himself suggested in the Caribbean that he simply wants to play, so it does not matter where he bats. Of course, if Hinds is not fit to play at all in the 1st Test, then the space is open for Lara anyway, so no problem there.

The bowling more or less selects itself. Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose will again open the bowling, even though they have not yet bowled a ball in England. It might have been prudent to at least give them a roll-out against Glamorgan, a week or so before the 1st Test, so that if any niggles appeared, then they could overcome them. I suppose that caution won.

Reon King has also not bowled as well as he had bowled in the Caribbean, but, like Wavell Hinds, he will be selected more on past performances than on present form. He is definitely the 3rd fast bowler in the packing order, while the 4th position is to be fought out between Nixon McLean and Franklyn Rose. While both are performing well, and maybe McLean is sharper and bowling better than Rose now, Rose will be selected because of the same formula of Hinds and King. He played in the last Test.

So, the final West Indies team, with some experimentation, and depending on full fitness, could be: Jimmy Adams (captain), Sherwin Campbell, Adrian Griffith (or Ramnaresh Sarwan), Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wavell Hinds (or Ramnaresh Sarwan), Ridley Jacobs, Curtly Ambrose, Franklyn Rose, Reon King and Courtney Walsh.

While that team was tough enough to beat Pakistan, with a push, it will not have a walk-over against the English. I expect the West Indies to win overall, by 3-1, but they will have to work hard. The English are determined to beat us now. Their dreams will turn into nightmares.