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June 06, 2007

The retirement of legendary batsman Brian Lara and the shoulder injury to the new Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan has severely jolted West Indies' chances of putting up a fight against England in the four-test series. West Indies' defeat in the second test at Leeds was the worst in their history. They would be going into the third test at Old Trafford trying to atleast draw the match. For that they would require a special effort from the top in particular which is from Chris Gayle. England on the other side are getting better with every day on the ground. Their bowling attack has been bolstered by the appointment of Allan Donald as the Bowling Consultant.

The worry for the tourists is that their batsmen could only play little over 40 overs in each innings in the second test. Of course the morale of the team was indeed very low after the first day's play in which Sarwan was badly injured and ruled out of the match. On the brighter side coming into the third test, West Indies will be having Shivnarine Chanderpaul returning back after a bleeding knee that put him out of the second test. The other good thing is that their batsmen had a good outing against the MCC in a three-day match. Runako Morton had got a double hundred while wicket keeper Denesh Ramdin got a confident hundred. That match put a scare in the minds of the West Indian Camp as Chris Gayle had sustained a rib injury while fielding. But the left hander has passed a fitness test much to the delight of his team mates. Having got a triple hundred in his career, Gayle would be looked upon to get a big hundred to save the Windies. The tourists have found the support of their former captain Brian Lara who has been passing on valuable batting tips over the last few days.

Daren Ganga will be leading West Indies for the first time in his career at Old Trafford. He doesn't have too many match winners but would atleast hope that he can get the best out of each and every member of his team to put England under a check. The Captain will have to lead the team from the front with long innings. Chanderpaul and Samuels are two experienced campaigners at the International level who will have to live upto the expectations put on them. The England Side has remained unchanged, the selectors have kept faith in the winning combination as they go with the same set of 11 players.

The new bowling resource for England has been Ryan Sidebottom. The left armer had shown a wonderful ability in controlling his swing and also in setting the trap for batsmen. His wicket of Chris Gayle in the Leeds Test was of the top draw having bought the wicket with two half volleys and then a late inswinger at good length that trapped him infront. The England Coach had specifically roped in Allan Donald for getting Steve Harmison back to his demolishing best. England's fast bowlers Harmison and Plunkett can be wayward at times and that is what Donald would be looking to correct to help them make the best use of the new ball. With a series coming up against India which has a quality batting line up, England would be trying their best to get their bowling in the best form. One of the worries for England going into this third test at Old Trafford is Ian Bell's fitness. Bell had sat out most part of the second test because of a back spasm but reports suggest that he has recovered significantly well.

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