LARA WORRIED ABOUT INJURIES TO PLAYERS

 By Oscar Ramjeet 

The West Indies team fresh from its victory against Bangladesh travelled to London last weekend to participate in the three way Nat/West Series which begins on June 24; and will later oppose England in a test series starting end of next month.

Shortly before leaving skipper Brian Lara expressed concern about the flurry of injuries that have hit the West Indies team recently ahead of their tour. He said " I must express how worried I am about the spate of injuries to the young and very talented ones who continue to be sidelined because of injuries". He mentioned Fidel Edwards who had to be excluded from the one day squad because of hamstring injury. He said that the young player had to be omitted five times in his brief career.

The risk of overworking his fast bowlers was another major concern for Lara. He added "just look at them and you would wonder how they bowl with so much pace with such small physiques." He added that" these guys bowl in the region of 90 miles per hour and upwards" and pointed out that the constant pressure would surely accentuate injuries.

He praised the efforts of vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, all rounder Omari Banks and pacer Pedro Collins for the victory against Bangladesh.

Sarwan top both the batting and bowling averages in the test series against Bangladesh. He gathered 301 runs from two innings, including a test and first class career best 261 not out in the second and final test in Jamaica, for an average of 301.00

The 23 year old Sarwan snared eight wickets from 48 overs, including a Test best four wickets for 37 runs in the opening Test in St. Lucia, for an average of 13.12 runs apiece.

Pedro Collins was the most successful West Indies bowler in the series however. He captured 14 wickets at 17.8 apiece, including a Test best six for 53 in Jamaica.

Guyana President Bharat Jagdeo met and congratulated Sarwan for his magnificent performance and encouraged him to "bat along for bigger scores".

Meanwhile former Windies opening batsman Desmond Haynes feels that the Caribbean team will not perform well in England because the players do not have much experience of English conditions. He said that" I am not too sure of our preparation for the tour and that is why I have a little problem with how well we will do in England because we just came off two tracks that were very very flat. There was no sideway movement, playing against Bangladesh.

Haynes who played 116 tests, and is one of the best opening batsmen of all time in the West Indies, said that it is hard on the current team because" the players have not participated in English county cricket as in the 1980s when about 9 guys had the opportunity to play league cricket in England"

West Indies will play its first match in the Nat/West Series against New Zeland on June 26 at Edgbaston.

The team: Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Powell, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Darrren Sammy, Ridley Jacob. Carlton Baugh, Ian Bradshaw, Ravi Rampaul, Tino Best, and Jermaine Lawson.