Windies, Aussies to clash in 20/20
THE WEST Indies and Australia will usher in the first Twenty20 International in the Caribbean when they meet at the Kensington Oval today.
After the three-match Test series, the two teams will play a one-off match in the shortest form of the game ahead of their five-match one-day international series, which starts on Tuesday. Although losing the Test series 2-0, the West Indies challenged Australia all the way and coach John Dyson is hoping to build on that performance in the shorter matches.
“I’m hoping that we do play the best cricket that we can play throughout the whole series,” Dyson told reporters before practice at Kensington yesterday.
“If we do that, we will definitely be competitive and providing we take our opportunities, we have also got a chance of winning,” Dyson said.
“It’s very much like a Test series. In the Test series, we played some good cricket, but just on a couple of occasions, we didn’t do quite well enough and that cost us the real killer punches to win the matches,” he said.
Injury concerns
There were injury concerns for both camps ahead of the match that starts at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. Ja time) and is expected to attract a big crowd.
While Australia have confirmed that Andrew Symonds, who is suffering from a sore back, and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, with an injured finger, will both sit out, the West Indies will make a decision on Ramnaresh Sarwan just before the start of the match.
Sarwan, who was expected to lead the West Indies in the absence of the rested Chris Gayle, picked up a groin injury in the third Test.
“We’re just waiting to see what condition it (the injury) is in tomorrow (Friday),” Dyson said.
“It’s nothing major. We are mindful that we have five one-days coming up. In this Twenty20 form of the game it can be fairly hectic.”
If Sarwan is unavailable, it is expected that all-rounder Dwayne Bravo will take over as captain.
With Gayle out and Sarwan doubtful, the West Indies are likely to introduce two uncapped players - opening batsmen William Perkins of Trinidad and Tobago and Andre Fletcher of Grenada.
New players
Australia will also unveil several players who were not part of their Test squad.
They include opener Shaun Marsh, a son of former Australia opener Geoff Marsh, all-rounder James Hopes and batsman David Hussey, a brother of Mike Hussey, all-rounder Shane Watson and legspinner Cameron White.
“We know that they are all very good players,” Dyson said. “You can look up the stats on the internet and find out what their statistics are. We have to work out our plans accordingly.”
Australia announced their final XI 24 hours before the match, omitting Symonds, Haddin, along with fast bowlers Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken.
The tourists have also revealed that for tomorrow’s day/night match against the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI, the four players to sit out will be captain Ricky Ponting, pacer Brett Lee, along with Symonds and Haddin.
The teams:
WEST INDIES - Ramnaresh Sarwan, William Perkins, Xavier Marshall, Andre Fletcher, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach.
AUSTRALIA - Ricky Ponting (captain), James Hopes, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Luke Ronchi, Brett Lee, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson.
