Rain, No Play

Now that the Ramnaresh Sarwan has been officially named as the captain of the West Indies team, even if under probation, lets take a shot at what the 15 man Test team to tour England will look like. Some changes will probably be made for the ODI series to follow the Test series.

1) Ramnaresh Sarwan (c)
2) Daren Ganga (vc)
3) Chris Gayle
4) Shivnarine Chanderpaul
5) Denesh Ramdin (wk)
6) Daren Powell
7) Jerome Taylor
8) Dwayne Bravo
9) Corey Collymore
10) Devon Smith

The first 9 should pick themselves. Devon Smith should also be in there as well due to his recent form and after Gayle and Ganga, he's probably the best opener in the West Indies.

11) Marlon Samuels

An iffy proposition with his on again, off again performance, but the ability is there and will likely be in the 15.

12) Lendl Simmons

This pick will likely come down to Baugh or Lendl Simmons - you need a back up wicket keeper on a long tour to spell Ramdin in warm up matches. Simmons is a specialist batsman and can play two roles in a) emergency/back up keeper b) specialist batsman. While Baugh is clearly the batter keeper, he has not been in the best of batting form recently. He should not despair, as he should be in the Windies plan for the future as he is still only 24.

13) Ravi Rampaul
14) Fidel Edwards

Edwards gets picked because of his raw pace and the fact that not too long ago he was terrorising opposing batsmen while spearheading the Windies attack. Rampaul is a seamer that swings the ball and should do well in the English conditions.

15) Amit Jaggernath.

Jaggernauth is a legitimate off spin bowling prospect that can spin the ball both ways. He has taken a lot of wickets in domestic competition for Trinidad and Tobago, and while fellow Trini spinners Rajendra Dhanraj and Dinanath Ramnarine didn't pan out for the West Indies, Jaggernauth has shown enough at the domestic level to merit a selection. The Windies glaringly missed a wicket taking spinner at the World Cup and given time, Jaggernauth might develop into one.

A notable ommission from this list is Jermaine Lawson, the fast bowler who took 6/3 against Bangladesh and a hat trick and a 7-for against Australia not too long ago. He was back in top form this Carib Beer series, leading the wicket taking column with 29 wickets at an average of 20. However, many who have seen him bowl stll feel that his action has not been straightened out properly and this may preclude him from the 15. If the selectors feel that his action is OK, then he should come in at Rampaul's expense.

Among the other contenders for places on tour are Bajan batsman Dale Richards, Jamaican opener Brenton Parchment and discarded West Indies player Wavell Hinds, all of whom averaged over 50 in the recent Carib Beer series. Trinidad teenage opener Adrian Barath looks the part, but he is just 17 and has many years ahead of him.

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