Windies to make changes for last Test against Australia

Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs and fast bowler Merv Dillon will probably be reintroduced to the West Indies eleven for the fourth Test against Australia, starting on Friday.

The West Indies will try to prevent Australia from becoming the first team to sweep it in the Caribbean with the same 14-man squad which lost the third Test by nine wickets, the West Indies Cricket Board said.

Australia leads the Frank Worrel Trophy series 3-0.

Jacobs, with 48 caps, has recovered from a leg muscle he pulled in the first Test, and would return for the match in his native Antigua to replace 20-year-old Carlton Baugh, who had made his debut in Barbados.

Dillon, who was dropped after taking only five wickets for 325 runs in the first two Tests, is expected to replace Tino Best, who went wicketless on debut in the last Test.

Dillon is the only West Indies bowler with more than 100 wickets, having claimed 117 in 32 Tests.

The squad: Brian Lara (captain), Omari Banks, Carlton Baugh, Tino Best, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Merv Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ridley Jacobs, Jermaine Lawson, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith.

Windies look to the future

Brian Lara will lead the youngest squad ever selected by the West Indies into their one-day series against Australia.

Having lost their first three Tests against the Aussies, the pressure is on the home team to start winning in the limited overs version of the game. And the burden falls to several inexperienced players among the 15-man squad.

All-rounder Ryan Hurley earns his first international call-up. He joins Devon Smith, David Bernard, Omari Banks and Tino Best, all of whom made their West Indies debuts in recent Tests against Australia.

Hurley, 27, has had a prolific 2003 spell for regional champions Barbados, scoring 337 runs and taking 18 wickets with his off-spin.

With an average age of just under 25, the Windies are clearly building for the future.

Opening batsman Smith, all-rounder Bernard and fast bowler Best are all 21. Banks, the first player from the Leeward Island of Anguilla to represent the West Indies, is 20.

Captain Lara has said that his players have been batting well but need to improve their bowling.

And Barbadian Corey Collymore, a one-day specialist, has been called up to add weight to the pace attack.

The 25-year-old joins Test pacers Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Jermaine Lawson and Best.

Experienced 35-year-old wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs was picked ahead of 20-year-old Carlton Baugh, while highly-rated opening batsman Chris Gayle was also selected.

The seven-match series begins in Jamaica on May 17.

The squad: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Omari Banks, Tino Best, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hurley, Ridley Jacobs, Jermaine Lawson, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith.

Protestors hint at Zimbabwe tour disruptions

British-based opponents of Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe have hinted they may disrupt the Zimbabwean cricket team's tour of England.

Alan Wilkinson, co-organiser of the Stop the Tour group which is co-ordinating protests, said his organisation is planning "something dramatic" over the coming weeks.

While stressing that all protests will be peaceful, Wilkinson said: "We will invent something that's dramatic and will stop something." He refused to rule out actions which could disrupt play during matches.

The implicit threat came as protestors held a symbolic demonstration outside the MCC's annual meeting.

Campaign leader Peter Tatchell was among a group of less than a dozen protestors who handed MCC members an open letter urging them to condemn the Zimbabwe tour.

The letter described the Zimbabwean cricketers as "sporting ambassadors for Mugabe".

"He wants this tour to go ahead," it added. "It is part of his strategy to normalise relations with the rest of the world.

"There can be no normal sporting relations with an abnormal regime that uses torture, rape and murder as weapons of repression."

Zimbabwe's squad, led by captain Heath Streak, have appealed to protestors not to disrupt the 10-week tour, which includes two Tests against England, and denied that they should be regarded as emissaries of Mugabe.

Opponents of the Zimbabwean government invaded a meeting of the England and Wales Cricket Board in January as the body decided to go ahead with a World Cup match scheduled to take place in Harare. The match was ultimately boycotted by the English players on security grounds.

In February, Mr Tatchell attempted to have Mugabe arrested for alleged human rights abuses when he visited France.

I'll strike this time, says McGrath

Glenn McGrath has warned the West Indies that he will be back to his menacing best in the fourth and final Test, which begins on Friday.

McGrath went wicketless for only the third time in his 92-Test career as Australia crusied to a nine-wicket victory in the third Test.

The veteran spearhead was clearly underdone in his first match in six weeks after missing the opening two Tests to be with his ill wife Jane in Sydney.

But Australia's second greatest wicket-taker with 422 scalps said he is primed for a big haul at the Recreation Ground in the fourth Test.

"Some people have always said I'm a bit of a slow starter getting back in, but it's just a matter of getting some overs under the belt and at this stage I worry more about the process rather than the result," he said.

"I was happy with the way I bowled and I feel like if I bowl as well as that in the next Test then I will get wickets.

"The fact that I didn't take any wickets hasn't done anything to dent my confidence."

While the 33-year-old was scalpless in Barbados, he bowled economically and finished with match figures of 0-64 from 36 overs on a flat, docile wicket which offered no help for the pacemen.

McGrath, like fellow quicks Brett Lee, Andy Bichel and Jason Gillespie, maintained a tight line and built pressure, allowing attacking leg-spinner Stuart MacGill to bowl the side to victory with a match haul of nine wickets.

Captain Steve Waugh said McGrath's efforts had been "remarkable" considering his long absence and felt he should not be criticised for his barren return.

Symonds goes pig shooting for relaxation

Australia's World Cup hero Andrew Symonds will return to action in the West Indies next week fresh from a series of tangles with wild pigs and bulls in the outback of north Queensland.

Symonds departs for Antigua on Friday, hoping to repeat his outstanding World Cup form in the seven-match limited overs series against the West Indies, starting on May 17 in Jamaica.

"We ran them (bulls) down in an old Landcruiser with the tyres on the front," Symonds said on Thursday.

"We knocked them over and tied them up and whacked them in the back of what we call a lion cage and carted them off to the markets. It was great fun."

Symonds averaged 163 for the tournament as Australia successfully defended the World Cup in South Africa in March.

Captain Ricky Ponting strongly backed the 27-year-old's selection for the World Cup despite his modest return of two half-centuries in his previous 54 one-day internationals at an average of 23.81.

Ganguly, team mates greet Dravid

India skipper Sourav Ganguly and other team members greeted newly-wed team mate Rahul Dravid at a reception, hosted by him in Bangalore on Tuesday.

India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, batsman Mohammad Kaif and former players, including Ajay Ratra and spin legend B S Chandrsehakar, BCCI secretary S K Nair and former BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur were among the prominent guests at the big bash, held at a five-star hotel.

At the reception hosted by Dravid on May 4, when he tied the knot with Nagpur-based doctor Vijeta Pendharkar, guests needed to show their invite for entry.

Former India batsman V V S Laxman and cricketers of yesteryear, including E A S Prasanna, Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath and Syed Kirmani, also attended the reception.

A third reception is scheduled at Nagpur on May 10.

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 2 Sub: Lakshman - Former Indian Batsman??? How come u say vvs lakshman as former indian batsman??? i hope he has lots of talent and has plenty of cricket left in him... Posted by Rajesh Sub: Laxman Excuse ME!!!!! But i think you referred to VVS Laxman as a former India Batsman. I think he is a regular in the test team ... Posted by Raju