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Lara to lead 16-man squad in England
West Indies' 16-man squad announced on Tuesday for the four-match Test series against England starting on July 22.
Fast bowlers Pedro Collins and Fidel Edwards, spinner Omari Banks and batsman Sylvester Joseph will join West Indies for the four Tests against England next month following a triangular one-day series.
But there was no room for the experienced Corey Collymore and Mervyn Dillon, both of whom have been named as reserves to the 16-man squad.
The six-week tour begins with a three-day fixture against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Arundel from July 13-15. The Brian Lara-led side has only four players who are over 25, with the bowling department being particularly inexperienced. Left-armer Collins, at 27 and with 80 wickets in 24 Tests, leads a pace attack in which all five members are making their first senior tour to England.
The 22-year-olds Edwards, Tino Best and Jermaine Lawson, and 19-year-old Ravi Rampaul complete the fast bowling armory. Edwards is expected to be fully fit after a hamstring strain. Ricardo Powell, Ian Bradshaw and Darren Sammy will return home after triangular one-day series with England and New Zealand ends on July 10. That series starts on June 24.
Banks, who turns 22 next month, is the only specialist slow bowler in the squad. The 1.93-meter (6-foot-5) allrounder recently enjoyed a successful return after rehabilitation from a stress fracture of his back, taking six wickets in the final Test against Bangladesh in Jamaica last week.
Allrounder Dwayne Bravo, already in the one-day party, will remain in Britain while batsman Joseph is recalled. Both players will be on their first full tours with the Test team and are rewarded for impressive 2004 home seasons.
The 20-year-old Bravo collected 481 runs and 28 wickets in seven Carib Beer Series regional matches for Trinidad and Tobago. The right-handed batsman and medium pacer also impressed when given a chance in the one-day internationals against England and Bangladesh this year.
Joseph, 25, notched 517 runs for the Leeward Islands and ended the season on a high with a century off the touring Bangladeshis for the West Indies Board XI.
Veteran wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, at 36 in the twilight of his career, will be backed up by 21-year-old Carlton Baugh Jr. The batting is expected to be the strength of the team, with world record-holder Lara.
The 35-year-old is on his fourth Test tour of England, a team against whom he boasts a formidable record. His last innings against the Englishmen in April brought him a record 400 not out, and he has scored 2,719 runs at an average of 68 in 26 matches against them. Lara's main support will come from openers Chris Gayle and Devon Smith, and in the middle order Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Smith.
The one concern for the West Indies is the lack of a genuine third opener as backup to the incumbents, left-handers Gayle and Smith.
Squad: Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Christopher Gayle, Devon Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Ridley Jacobs, Ravi Rampaul, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Jermaine Lawson, Pedro Collins, Omari Banks, Carlton Baugh jr, Dwayne Bravo, Sylvester Joseph.
Manager: Anthony Howard. Coach: Augustine Logie.
