Powell axed for England tour

Fast bowler Daren Powell and allrounder Ryan Hinds have been dropped from the 17-man West Indies touring party for the Test series against England. Three uncapped players - Grenada fast bowler Nelon Pascal, Barbados batsman Dale Richards, and Jamaica medium-pacer Andrew Richardson - have been included in the squad.

However, in a blow to West Indies' hopes Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the two Tests after medical advice said he hadn't recovered sufficiently from the ankle surgery that kept him out of the game for eight months. He returned with impressive results in the one-day series against England and was expected to make this tour but the management are taking a cautious approach.

Powell was axed after a prolonged spell of poor form - he managed only 25 wickets at 60.80 in his previous 14 Tests - while Hinds was left out after a lacklustre showing in the final Test against England.

Richardson was called up after playing a pivotal role in taking Jamaica to the domestic four-day title, bagging 33 wickets at 23.12. "This year Richardson has been bowling very well and deserves his selection," Clyde Butts, the chairman of selectors, said. "He is tall, accurate and has the ability to get wickets at crucial stages in the game."

Pascal, 21, who has taken 20 wickets in his previous five first-class games, caught the selectors' eye with his pace while the 32-year-old Richards regains a place after recovering from a foot injury that ruled him out of action in February.

Guyana's Narsingh Deonarine, who played four Tests in 2005, has been recalled after becoming the first West Indies batsman to make more than 1000 domestic runs this season. "We felt he needed to get scores and take his game to another level and he did just that," Butts said. "He has been consistent and deserves this chance."

Another player who has been out of the national reckoning for a long time, allrounder David Bernard, makes a comeback while medium-pacer Darren Sammy, who burst onto the international scene with a seven-wicket haul on debut during the 2007 trip to England, also finds a place. The tour starts on April 21 and will include three warm-up matches and two Tests.

West Indies squad Chris Gayle (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Brendan Nash, Nelon Pascal, Dale Richards, Andrew Richardson, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor.