Sarwan in doubt for rest of tour
West Indies coach David Moore confirmed that there is doubt over captain Ramnaresh Sarwan's participation in the rest of the four Test series against England.
"He will bat only if absolutely necessary in the second innings and we will make an assessment on his further availability for the Test series at the end of this Test match," Moore said after the end of the second day's play of the second Test match. (Also see Sarwan's latest diary entry).
Sarwan fell awkwardly while chasing a ball during the third session on the first day's play of the second Test match.
He injured his right acromioclavicular joint but he did not suffer a dislocation of his shoulder according to team physiotherapist Stephen Partridge.
Following are excerpts from Moore's responses to various issues raised by journalists.
On how the second day went:
It's obviously an uphill battle and we all are going to stay positive about it so other people can say that rain might save us but we will be battling hard. With Shivy (Chanderpaul) out and Ronnie (Sarwan) out it makes a very big hole in our batting order. We'll see how we go.
On the injury to Ramnaresh Sarwan:
He is not in great shape. He will bat only if absolutely necessary (in the second innings). We will be making an assessment (on his further availability for the Test series) at the end of the Test match.
On whether Sarwan is in any doubt for the rest of the series.
Yes.
On whether it is particularly disappointing and luckless to lose both Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Sarwan after the retirement of Brian Lara:
There were also four very poor shots this afternoon. You can blame your luck for something but you have to take responsibility for our own actions and for the way we place ourselves in the game no matter who is playing and no matter what. It is a little bit disappointing but four bad shots isn't bad luck.
On vice captain Daren Ganga delaying taking the new ball:
I would not be announcing what the captain on the field and I were thinking but I think that Daren did a good job. As soon as he realized that the old ball wasn't working he went for the new ball straight away.
On whether Kevin Pietersen is unstoppable when on song:
We have to take key moments in cricket games, that's the bottom line. There is no two ways about it. When you drag a man like Pietersen out of his crease, he is stumped and you look back and see a no ball then that is a key moment in the game. It's crucial. We have to keep improving. We had a pretty poor day today but there is always tomorrow and the next Test and the next Test. We have to keep looking forward to tomorrow and not dwell too much on what happened today.