Windies head for SL baptism of fire

West Indies arrive in Sri Lanka for their first full tour of the country on Thursday with key batsman Brian Lara in the pack but the rest of the cards stacked firmly against them.

Carl Hooper's inexperienced squad, due to play three tests before taking part in a one-day tournament also involving Zimbabwe, have not had the best preparation.

Fretting over the trip ever since the September attacks on New York and Washington, they are also short of match hardness, with their last test series dating back to July.

Lara, at least, has opted to travel despite lingering concerns over his long-term hamstring injury.

Middle-order anchor Shivnarine Chanderpaul, however, declared fit just over a week ago, was ruled out days later after succumbing to back pain while stand-in batsman Wavell Hinds is expected to arrive late following surgery on a broken nose.

Hooper and Lara will clearly be central figures for the touring side, who have just completed a week's training camp in Jamaica under the supervision of former test players Andy Roberts and Gordon Greenidge, as well as team coach Roger Harper.

Hooper and Lara, both nearing their hundredth test caps, are the only players surviving from the short 1993 tour to Sri Lanka which featured the first test encounter between the two teams.

Hooper's captaincy and his new-found openness have been both revealing and refreshing but he will have to be much more of a father figure if his young charges are to beat Sri Lanka away.

SPIN CONTRIBUTION

While Hooper's role at the centre of the batting order, as a veteran of 87 tests and 4,699 runs, will be vital he could also, like his Sri Lankan counterpart Sanath Jayasuriya, contribute significantly with his spin bowling.

Lara, meanwhile, whose test average has dipped under 50 in recent seasons, will be watched closely by the selectors after a turbulent few months.

The gifted left-hander was forced home from the tour to Zimbabwe with a right hamstring injury in June-July, since when he has given up the captaincy of Trinidad and Tobago, ruled himself out of ever leading West Indies again and been written off as a man past his best by former Caribbean great Everton Weekes.

The West Indies selectors have bent over backwards to accommodate the flawed genius. This, though, could prove his last chance.

West Indies will have to hope that their younger generation of batsmen -- Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Marlon Samuels and Ramnaresh Sarwan -- start coming through.

There are even more concerns about the inexperience of the bowling attack, with none of the pacemen having yet played in 20 tests.

Reon King and Mervyn Dillon are the most experienced, with 44 wickets from 14 tests and 57 wickets from 16 respectively, but neither has ever fully convinced.

They will be backed up by Colin Stuart, Pedro Collins and Marlon Back, with a lone specialist spinner in Dinanath Ramnarine.

Sri Lanka have yet to win a test against West Indies. The two teams have only played three times, the inaugural game in 1993 followed by a two-match series in 1996-97.

West Indies squad:

Carl Hooper (captain), Ridley Jacobs (vice-captain), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds, Leon Garrick, Neil McGarrell, Dinanath Ramnarine, Colin Stuart, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Reon King, Pedro Collins.

Mail Cricket Editor