Lara cleared after injury scare

Brian Lara: relief ahead of the Durban Test © Getty Images

Just when it seemed West Indies'injury problems couldn't get any worse, their practice at Kingsmead on Wednesday shuddered to a temporary halt when Brian Lara left the field clutching his left forearm. He was hit while batting on a practice pitch that seemed a touch green for the purpose, and was whisked away for an X-ray.

It was the worst possible Christmas present West Indies could have received two days before the start of the second Test against South Africa, and that with the memory of the 189-run drubbing they suffered in the first Test at Johannesburg all too fresh.

But there was relief all-round - not least from vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan - when Lara was cleared to play. "It [the X-ray] just showed bruising," Gus Logie, the West Indies coach, told reporters. "It's Brian's 100th test match, and we want to make it as special as we can for him as well as for the team."

"It would be a privilege and an honour to captain the West Indies, but Brian's fit to go and I'm happy with that," said Sarwan. Lara's enforced absence would have ripped the heart out of the West Indians, coming as it did on the heels of the news that opening batsman Chris Gayle and fast bowler Corey Collymore are both out of the match with hamstring injuries.

And that in a touring party that has already bade farewell to offspinner Omari Banks, fast bowler Jerome Taylor and batsman Marlon Samuels. "It's an opportunity for young players to come in and make a name for themselves, and for experienced players to put their hand up and be counted," Logie said. "In the middle order we have Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and we have the experience of Ridley Jacobs, and in the first Test they showed what they could do with a beautiful partnership in the second innings. With all these injuries the players will have to take on a bit more responsibility, and they are willing to do so."

The absence of Gayle and Collymore could open doors for Carlton Baugh, who is wicketkeeper Jacobs' understudy but who could be selected as a batsman, and fast bowler Adam Sanford, who took 5 for 53 in the drawn tour match against Border at East London at the weekend.

The West Indies could also call on left-arm wrist spinner Dave Mohammed, but with the Kingsmead pitch likely to be a touch under-prepared because of two days of steady rain this week, and with more rain forecast before the match is underway, an all-seam attack would seem the wiser option.

Logie said the West Indies bowlers had the most ground to make up in the wake of the first Test. "Our bowlers need to be consistent and more disciplined," he said. "It's not a matter of not knowing what to do, it's a matter of execution. The players are experienced enough and we as coaches back them to go and put that right in the second Test."

Sarwan was 71 not out when rain prevented play on the last two days of the match against Border, and he said he felt in good form. "I'm pleased with the way I've been batting recently, and hopefully that will continue during this Test match," Sarwan said. "I think I'm looking at the ball a little closer. We had a net at East London, and some of the guys pointed out that I wasn't looking at the ball very closely. That seemed to be the problem I had, and it seems to have been corrected."

West Indies (possible) 1 Wavell Hinds, 2 Daren Ganga, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Carlton Baugh, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Vasbert Drakes, 9 Merv Dillon, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11 Adam Sanford.