Public shun unfamiliar West Indies
Ticket sales for the first Test in Guyana appear to have been seriously affected by West Indies' ongoing sponsorship row
Cricinfo staff
30-Mar-2005
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As ever in Guyana, local weather forecasts have played their part - thundery showers are predicted for the next five days - but the increasingly bitter dispute which means that Brian Lara won't be playing has also taken its toll. "With all this controversy, I think it's because of the team," a ground official told The Daily Telegraph. "Most people are waiting to see what happens."
To underline what is at stake in the contract dispute, visitors to Guyana are greeted with a huge billboard showing Ramnaresh Sarwan endorsing Cable & Wireless. Sarwan is one of the seven who have the personal deals with C&W which have led to their being dropped.
Unless there is some last-gasp compromise - and both sides appear fairly entrenched as things stand - it will be an unfamiliar West Indies side which takes the field tomorrow, and one assembled against a backdrop of virtual civil war. Their squad includes some new faces - Donovan Pagon, Narsingh Deonarine, and Dwight Washington - as well as some old ones brought back to plug the holes. Tony Howard, the manager, remained positive.
"We are trying to build a unit of players who will work together. All the boys are geared up and ready to face the challenge," he told The Nation. "I always look forward to a challenge and the players will be approaching the challenge with confidence. Some factors are missing but we are looking at things in the long term."
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who will lead the side in the absence of Lara, was keen to put an equally upbeat spin on the situation. "I'm positive, we all are positive and once we play to our abilities - and all the guys are very talented - and once we can play to that and play better than South Africa we will win."
While attention has been on West Indies, South Africa have been going through their paces. Already without Shaun Pollock, who is still undergoing treatment on his injured ankle back home - Andrew Hall or Charl Langeveldt will replace him - they are also waiting on a late fitness Test on Jacques Kallis who is still troubled by the hip injury he picked up against Zimbabwe.
"Kallis bowled the fastest in Tuesday morning's training session," explained Ray Jennings, South Africa's coach. "We are interested to know if he can bowl between 15 and 20 overs a day for us. If the answer is yes, the compilation of the team will change." Given Kallis's apparent reluctance to bowl - except when confronted with Zimbabwe's paper-thin middle order - the chances are that he will not be risked as a front-line bowler.
West Indies (possible) 1 Devon Smith, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Daren Ganga, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), 5 Ryan Hinds, 6 Daren Powell, 7 Courtney Browne (wkt), 8 Dwight Washington, 9 Pedro Collins, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Reon King.
South Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Herschelle Gibbs, 6 Ashwell Prince, 7 Mark Boucher (wkt) , 8 Nicky Bojé, 9 Andrew Hall, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.