The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
Trinidad & Tobago captain Daren Ganga has been forced to withdraw from the Carib Beer XI against the visiting Australians because of a leg injury.
Ganga, who was named captain of the representative XI, sustained the injury in the Carib Beer semi-final match between T&T and Barbados and has been ordered to rest for 10 days.
Sunday's housecleaning in Barbados was a welcome sign of life from the administration of West Indies cricket. In an unexpected break from the predictable, Carl Hooper was not re-appointed as captain and young Ramnaresh Sarwan was announced as the vice captain instead of the veteran Ridley Jacobs.
Now, I do not mean to belittle either Hooper or Jacobs with those sentiments. Hooper took over the team at a very difficult time and provided the broad shoulders to carry it this far. For his part, Ridley Jacobs is possibly the most unsung hero of modern West Indies cricket and served ably in Bangladesh when Hooper's knees gave out.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has apologised to Australia academy head coach Bennett King for prematurely announcing that he had been appointed to take charge of its national team.
"I spoke to them this morning by phone about my disappointment regarding some of the processes and another couple of issues that are a little more personal and that may come to light later," King told the Australia media.
Brian Lara's appointment as West Indian captain is a massive gamble because the selection panel cannot be sure which Brian Lara will take the job.
Will it be the Lara who turned up fit, focused and committed to the team cause in the World Cup? Or will it be the confused, troubled soul who has missed four Test series in the past two years and earlier this season was spotted playing the Barbados Golf Open, despite claiming he was unfit to play cricket.
Trinidad & Tobago captain Daren Ganga will lead a select Carib Beer XI against the touring Australians. The match, formerly the President's XI, will be played at Everest in Guyana and starts on Saturday.
The side includes a slew of youth players, including Devon Smith, Dwayne Bravo and Windies 'B' team batsmen Narsingh Deonarine, Aneil Kanhai and Omari Banks. Carlton Baugh is the wicket-keeper.