Buzz Up Buoyant Proteas eye Test series success over W.Indies

PORT OF SPAIN: South Africa have every reason to start their three-Test series with West Indies on Thursday at Queen's Park Oval in a confident mood.

The South Africans swept the preceding limited-overs matches, comprising two Twenty20 and five One-day Internationals.

Though the visitors would concede that Tests are far different, they enter the series with the confidence of returning to the winning habit, and the full knowledge that their opponents appear to be in disarray.

But the Proteas' vice-captain Jacques Kallis was still cautious about a West Indies side, which is quite unpredictable.

"This is a very different form of the game, and in many ways this is a fresh start to the tour," he said.

"The West Indies can be a very dangerous side, and it is important that we set our standard from the start.

"We've just got to be on the top of the game, and control it, and if we play to our true potential, we will walk away with the series."

No doubt West Indies have been under pressure from their demanding public, which has become sick not so much by the losses, but the manner in which their side has meekly surrendered matches from positions of comfort.

It was clearly evident throughout the limited-overs matches, where West Indies could easily have won one of the T20Is, and two or three of the ODIs had they played more professionally.

"When we watch South Africa, we know they are beatable," said embattled West Indies captain Chris Gayle.

"We came close, and we fell short, but one positive we can take away is that we know they are beatable. We just hope that we can change things around for the Tests.

"We can beat them! We have done it once in South Africa, so there is no reason we can't beat them on home soil."

Naturally, both sides have made changes to their line-ups to boost their chances in the longest format of the game.

The South Africans have strengthened their batting with the choice of Ashwell Prince in the middle-order ahead of left-hander David Miller.

They have also fortified their bowling with Paul Harris replacing Roelof van der Merwe, and Wayne Parnell returning to the line-up for veteran Charl Langeveldt.

The West Indies selectors have resisted the urge to make sweeping changes, with left-handed batsman Brendan Nash, as well as the uncapped pair of off-spinner Shane Shillingford and fast bowler Nelon Pascal shoring up the bulk of the limited-overs squad.

South Africa have dominated West Indies in Tests since their re-entry into international cricket following international isolation.

They have won 14, and lost three of the 22 matches between the two sides, and two of the wins came at Port of Spain in 2001 and 2005 in the two Tests the sides have played here.

West Indies have slumped to six losses and five draws in their last 11 Tests, after their sensational innings and 23-run victory over England last year at Kingston.

Nine of the last 10 Tests at this venue have finished in an outright win, which gives rise to the assertion that the pitch is a result-oriented surface.

Fortunately for South Africa, West Indies have been on the right side on only two occasions, and last year's match against England ended in a tense draw.

It typically offers a wide range of behaviour for the bowlers, with swing and lateral movement for the fast men, giving way to a spinner's paradise over the last couple of days.

With the Test series being played in the opening month of the Caribbean storm season, the weather report makes unhappy reading with scattered and isolated thunderstorms apparently on the horizon.

Squads: West Indies (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice captain), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash, Nelon Pascal, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Shane Shillingford.

South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis (vice captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, Abraham deVilliers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Paul Harris, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Peterson, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

- Paul Mitchell

Prior to miss fourth Test

BRIDGETOWN (Barbados): England wicket-keeper Matt Prior has flown home after his wife gave birth to their first child on Sunday and Tim Ambrose will take his place in the fourth cricket Test against the West Indies.

Prior had already said he would return home but his wife, Emily, gave birth earlier than the expected date of March 2.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday that Prior flew home after hearing news that he had a son and back-up wicket-keeper Ambrose would start against the West Indies. — AP

Khan and Bopara to join England's Test squad

Andrew Flintoff's participation in next week's fourth Test against West Indies in Barbados is in doubt after England called up Kent fast bowler Amjad Khan and Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara as cover.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said on Thursday that Flintoff had a "niggling hip" injury. The all-rounder was restricted to just three overs on the fourth day of the third Test in Antigua on Wednesday.

Team mate Steve Harmison said Flintoff had been struggling to bowl.

"The big lad is in a bit of pain and it shows the character he has that he even attempted to go out on the field," said Harmison.

England need seven wickets to level the five-match series 1-1 on the final day.

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Sarwan and Chanderpaul frustrate England

West Indies duo Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul batted through a rain-hit morning session to frustrate England on the final day of the third Test on Thursday.

Sarwan was 73 not out and Chanderpaul unbeaten on 40 as the home team, chasing an unlikely victory target of 503, reached lunch on 196 for three at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

Heavy rain caused a 75-minute delay to the start and when play got underway Chanderpaul and Sarwan survived some lively bowling from pacemen Steve Harmison and James Anderson.

As the pitch settled down the pair grew in confidence, bringing up their 100 partnership in the last over before the break.

West Indies lead the five-match series 1-0.

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Broad edges England closer to victory

Broad collected the prized scalps of century-maker Ramnaresh Sarwan and the durable Shivnarine Chanderpaul to boost England's bid for victory over the West Indies in the third Test on Thursday.

Broad, armed with the second new ball, removed Sarwan for 106 and Chanderpaul for 55 in quick succession as West Indies, chasing 503 for victory, reached 279 for five at tea on the last day at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

The blonde-haired paceman has been England's most successful bowler with three wickets for 51 runs from 18 overs.

Broad bowled Sarwan with a delivery that moved back and kept low in the second over with the new ball, and then had Chanderpaul caught behind stabbing at a short rising ball outside the off-stump.

Until Broad's intervention, Sarwan and Chanderpaul had batted comfortably to add 148 for the fourth wicket.

In the last over with the first new ball - from off-spinner Graeme Swann - Chanderpaul had reached his 50, when he whipped a full length ball through mid-wicket for the last of his five boundaries.

In the following over, the first one with the second new ball from James Anderson, Sarwan reached his 100 when he steered the second delivery between second slip and gully to third man for the 11th of his 12 fours.

Before lunch, England had endured a fruitless toil in their bid for the series-levelling victory, as Sarwan and Chanderpaul batted defiantly.

England's bowlers found the ARG pitch less than accommodating and they would have been disappointed that it did not misbehave as they'd expected during a morning period cut short by 45 minutes because of rain.

England, with Andrew Flintoff struggling with a hip injury, failed to make a breakthrough in the morning period, as Sarwan and Chanderpaul plodded away, after West Indies continued from their overnight total of 143 for three.

Sarwan passed 50 for the second time in the match, when he drove his 104th ball from Steve Harmison off the back-foot for two through square cover.

England trail 1-0 in the series which now comprises five Tests, following an innings and 23-run defeat in the opening Test at Kingston inside four days.

The other two Tests in the series take place at Kensington Oval in Barbados from February 26 to March 2, and Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad from March 6 to 10.

The second Test at the nearby Sir Vivian Richards Ground was abandoned after just 10 balls last week because of a dangerous outfield.

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Injured Flintoff facing fourth Test fitness battle

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is a doubt for the fourth Test against the West Indies after suffering a hip injury during the third Test which ended in a draw on Thursday.

England skipper Andrew Strauss said Flintoff will have a scan on his right hip on Friday.

"Today we were trying to bowl him as little as possible and ended up bowling him more than we wanted to. He was bowling on one leg," said Strauss.

"His last spell was incredible. We'll get a scan done in Barbados; he may be fit, he may not."

Flintoff toiled through 15 overs at the Antigua Recreation Ground in West Indies' second innings, finishing with 0-32.

His efforts were in vain as the West Indies' last pair of Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards frustrated the tourists for over 30 minutes before the match was halted for bad light with four overs still to bowl.

The fourth Test starts in Bridgetown on February 26 with England still 1-0 down in the five-match series.

Earlier, England called up Kent pace bowler Amjad Khan and Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara into their squad as cover.

Both the uncapped Khan and Bopara will travel from New Zealand, where they have been with the England Lions, the national 'A' side, to the Caribbean.

Khan was summoned as injury cover by England late last year when he was called into their squad in India following an injury to Ryan Sidebottom, the Nottinghamshire left-arm quick.

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Skipper Strauss gets another bitter pill to swallow

ST.JOHN'S: England captain Andrew Strauss, in charge of his first tour, is learning the lessons of captaincy the hard way after suffering two hard-to-take results against West Indies in his opening Tests.

After an innings and 23 run defeat in the first Test in Kingston, when his team collapsed to 51 all out, came a 10-ball abandoned match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, followed by a bitterly disappointing draw in the hastily arranged third Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

England had the upper hand for all five days of an enthralling Test match, Strauss's 169 helping them to 566 for nine declared in their first innings. They sat in command after setting West Indies a near impossible target of 503 to win.

But in four-and-a-half sessions of bowling, England could only get nine West Indian wickets as the last pair of Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell hung on for 10 agonising overs.

"Clearly when you get so close in a Test and you don't make it over that final hurdle it is very hard to take," said Strauss.

"In some ways it does feel like a defeat, but once the emotion subsides and we realise there's a lot of positives to come out of the Test.

"The way we batted after Jamaica was the way to respond, the way Graeme Swann bowled was exceptional and Stuart Broad as well bowled very well.

"Hopefully we have shifted the momentum away from West Indies and if we can get better as the tour goes on there's no reason why we can't win the series."

"Test wins don't come easily, especially on a wicket like this even against numbers 10 and 11 it's hard to force the issue.

"I can't fault the bowlers, they did as well as they could in those conditions. It was just one of those things, it wasn't meant to be," he added.

Critics might point to Strauss's decision not to enforce the follow-on or his sending in James Anderson as a night watchman at the end of the third day, which slowed down England on the morning of the next session.

But the England skipper was also restricted by Andrew Flintoff's hip injury and Steve Harmison's stomach upset.

"We had a few problems, Harmison was on his death bed with a towel over his stomach and there was Freddie's injury. Graeme Swann woke up on the fourth day with an elbow he thought might stop him bowling at all.

"Plenty of problems to ponder and it meant the bowlers we did have had as much rest as possible. I certainly have no regrets about not enforcing the follow-on," he said.

"We hoped the wicket would deteriorate on day five but it didn't really, if anything it died a little and got flatter.

"The efforts of the bowlers were exceptional. We did everything we could do. Sometimes a ball goes to hand and sometimes it doesn't, it's those small margins between winning and drawing a Test match".

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West Indies fight out a draw in fading light

England and the West Indies drew the third Test on Thursday in dramatic circumstances when play was called off due to bad light with the home side on 370-9 and with four overs still to bowl.

West Indies lead the five-match series 1-0.

"I was in my zone. I have worked on my batting for the past few months and now it's bearing fruits," said Daren Powell who finished unbeaten on 22 off 55 balls in a knock spread over 65 minutes at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

Last man Fidel Edwards made five but more importantly stayed at the wicket for 34 minutes.

Adding to England's problems was a worrying hip injury suffered by Andrew Flintoff which could rule him out of the fourth Test in Barbados from February 26. He will undergo a scan on Friday.

Star batsman Kevin Pietersen took a nasty blow to his hand while fielding close in as England crowded the last two West Indies batsmen.

The other two Tests in the series take place at Kensington Oval in Barbados from February 26 to March 2, and Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad from March 6 to 10.

The second Test at the nearby Sir Vivian Richards Ground was abandoned after just 10 balls last week because of a dangerous outfield.

Earlier, pace bowler Stuart Broad collected the prized scalps of century-maker Ramnaresh Sarwan and the durable Shivnarine Chanderpaul to boost England's hopes.

Broad, armed with the second new ball, removed Sarwan for 106 and Chanderpaul for 55 in quick succession as West Indies, who were chasing 503 for victory, reached 279 for five at tea.

Until Broad's intervention, Sarwan and Chanderpaul had batted comfortably to add 148 for the fourth wicket.

"It's pretty tough to take. We had to work exceptionally hard for our wickets today," admitted England skipper Andrew Strauss. "The guys dug deep. Flintoff was bowling on one leg, so to get very close is a great effort."

Strauss said he was proud of his team. "From the time we turned up here through to the end, we've played some exceptional cricket - and if we continue to do that, I believe we'll come out on top," he said.

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