Windies teenager to face Australian might in third Test
West Indies' selectors on Thursday named 19-year-old Marlon Samuels in their side for the crucial third Test against Australia.
Samuels, 20 on February 5, makes his Test debut at Adelaide Oval on Friday against a rampant and experienced Australian attack including champion fast bowlers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie and seasoned spinners Stuart MacGill and Colin Miller.
He takes the place of 20-year-old Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was relegated to 12th man duties after scoring just three runs in four Test innings this summer.
Samuels, who arrived in Australia only last week for injured batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, will also bowl his part-time off-spin after Windies' selectors stuck with their four fast bowlers.
While Australia will almost certainly play MacGill and Miller, the Windies overlooked their only specialist slow bowler, leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, and gambled on an attack unproven on the batsman-friendly Adelaide Oval.
The pace will be shared among Courtney Walsh, Marlon Black, Mervyn Dillon and Nixon McLean.
The Windies' pace battery were ineffective at their last Adelaide Oval Test in 1996-97, when the side fell to Australia by an innings and 163 runs.
Samuels, a right-hander from Jamaica, faces a daunting baptism in the Test arena, but captain Jimmy Adams has rated the teenager among the most talented players in the Caribbean.
He is a brother of Robert Samuels, who toured Australia four years ago with the Windies.
The tourists are left with only three senior batsmen, Adams, Brian Lara and vice captain Sherwin Campbell, leaving a huge weight on Samuels and 21-year-old opener Daren Ganga.
Sarwan has been listed as a standby player for Lara, but the Windies expect their star batsman will play despite a chronic hamstring problem which had him under a cloud early Thursday.
The West Indies team:
Jimmy Adams (capt), Sherwin Campbell (vice captain), Daren (Daren) Ganga, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Nixon McLean, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Courtney Walsh, Ramnaresh Sarwan (12th man).
Mail Cricket Editor
