Rampaul ruled out of 4th test

West Indies fast bowler Ravi Rampaul who suffered a minor groin tear has been ruled out of the fourth Test match against England. Rampaul suffered the injury while playing against the MCC XI in a warm up game prior to the third Test match.

All rounder Darren Sammy sustained a minor groin injury while batting in the second innings of the third Test match. Sammy has not been ruled out of the fourth Test in Durham and will continue to receive treatment and a decision on his availability will be made on afternoon of Thursday June 14th.

On getting close to victory in the third Test but not winning:

There was a stage on the fifth day when I thought they may come through but when chasing 450 in the last innings of a Test match on a wearing wicket and with (Monty) Panesar bowling well it was always going to be very hard. The first innings is where we let ourselves down. If we got more runs in the first innings it would have been a different ball game.

The batting was excellent in the second innings. To get 394 on that pitch when it was most difficult to bat on with (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul's century and (Runako) Morton's half century and the other contributions was an excellent effort.

On whether the improvements in batting and bowling are good indicators for the team:

We are just trying to improve all the time. We're using improvement as a marker and not to make the same mistakes again and again but obviously we get judged on wins, losses and draws so it's important that if we can get ourselves in winning positions in the second innings that we also do so in the first innings whether we are batting or bowling.

On what it takes for the team spirit to be good:

The team spirit is coming together. There is no magic formula, the guys are coming together and they are working hard and when we work hard together you start seeing results. Those sorts of things actually draw the team together.

On Darren Sammy's groin injury:

It would be a disappointment after he has played such a good Test match but we have able replacements who will work very hard to fill the void if he doesn't play. It would be disappointing for us and it will leave a bit of gap after what he has done for us but I am very hopeful he will play.

On whether players like Sammy coming through represent increased talent available in the West Indies:

In my three years I have seen some fairly talented cricketers but it is a matter of getting opportunities and transferring those opportunities. Darren Sammy is a complete example of hard work. If you want to put up someone to show what hard work can do, he's the man. He's worked extremely hard at his game in trying conditions because St Lucia is a small island so he has to take very opportunity he can but he will do all his work by himself. He's been fantastic on this tour and there wouldn't be too many harder workers in world cricket.

On whether improved planning resulted in Kevin Pietersen's similar dismissal in the third Test:

We've always had good plans it's whether we were able to implement them or not. Our plans have been working because we've been implementing them. Our plans are as good as any, the players come up with them in conjunction with the coaching staff but what's important is implementing those plans.