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By Sa'adi Thawfeeq 

West Indies will be at full strength for their 3-day lung-opener of their tour of Sri Lanka against a Sri Lanka 'A' team commencing at the NCC grounds today.

"We have only two to three weeks before the Test matches and it is important to get the key players in as soon as possible. We will play a full strength side tomorrow," said West Indies captain Carl Hooper after his team had a good three-hour stint at the SSC nets yesterday.

"We have a fairly good idea who the 11 would be if a Test match starts tomorrow, but we want to get the players in nick as soon as possible," he said.

This would mean that Brian Lara who will be the cynosure of all eyes will be playing and there could be a good turn out at the NCC to watch this world class performer in action. Coming out of a hamstring injury, Lara will want to prove that he is still among the best batters in the world, following a series of bad luck with injuries and poor scores.

Hooper said that Sri Lanka could be a good test for his team and for some of his young players whom he said were exciting to watch.

"We haven't done too badly in the last 6-7 months. We began with a home series against South Africa and even though we didn't win it, we certainly had a good series," he said. "The Sri Lankan cricket public has not seen people like (Ramnaresh) Sarwan, (Chris) Gayle and (Marlon) Samuels and so on. For the next six weeks or so they will have a chance to see the number of exciting players we've got.," said Hooper.

"I think it is a challenge for some of the younger players to come up against a world class spinner like (Muttiah) Muralitharan. If you get some runs against him I am sure it will do a lot for their confidence," he said.

"I'd back my batters against any bowling attack. I think Murali is a world class spinner but that's not to say that we haven't come up against world class spinners and seamers. In the last few months we've had Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, and the South African pace bowlers. "I think this is what Test cricket is all about. I don't think we should get too worried about Murali. We've got left and right handers and I think Murali is good enough to bowl to them. It will be a good tour for the young ones to figure out how to play a world class spinner," Hooper said.

West Indies' aim is to get back on top of the ladder where they once belonged.

In that aspect Hooper said much progress has been made. "From the South African tour we have been trying out players who would form the nucleus of the 2003 World Cup squad and I think we've gone a long way towards identifying certain players who might figure in the competition. Sri Lanka is a good one-day side. After the Test series we got a good one-day competition. We are looking to do well in that also," said Hooper.

West Indies are in the process of team building and Hooper who took over the captaincy last year said: "I am fairly optimistic as we look forward to the team building how the youngters have progressed so far under my stint as captain in the six-12 months. We can get stronger and better as soon as possible and bring West Indies cricket back to what it was once before".

"It is hard to say really how quickly these younger players develop. Having said that I think we are well on our way back up the ladder. Only a few years ago we were beaten 5-0 in South Africa, but in the last series, we were competitive. I personally can see some of the younger guys developing," said Hooper.

"You've only to look at guys like Chris Gayle, Colin Stuart. If you watch them today they are much better players. Looking two years down the road I think they will progress some more. I don't want to jump the gun, but I think that in another 2-3 years time it will be a side to be reckoned with," he said.

"The youngsters are still learning the game. We've lost a number of stars all at one time just to mention Richards, Haynes and Greenidge left at the same time. Recently we lost Walsh and Ambrose. We lost a number of the star players. It is going to take time for these youngsters to come through. They are still learning the game but I am sure one day they probably be able to fill the shoes of many of these players," Hooper said. West Indies have brought with them only two spinners on the tour, but Hooper said: "We've tried to pick the team that will cover all angles. Left-arm orthodox McGarrell and leg-spinner Ramnaraine along with the five quicks should be enough to cover what we want to achieve on this tour." Team manager Ricky Skiritt was also pretty confident that West Indies cricket is on the right track.

"In the 19 months I have been manager I've seen a lot of progress in that time. I am pretty confident that in another 12-24 months the world is going to be very impressed with what they see coming out of the West Indies," said Skiritt, who became the first non-Test player to manage a West Indies side. The reason for making that appointment according to Skiritt was to try to bring an improvement in the team off the field and to allow the captain and the coach to focus on the technical and tactical matters on the field.

"My role has been more as a facilitator. I try to identify needs, fill gaps, work on an individual level as well as group level and try to keep the West Indies Cricket Board well informed of the developmental needs and preparation needs for the team, especially on tour and equally so at home," said Skiritt.

"I try to also bring in some systems, standards formats of what we do. That we could have some continuity and succession planning which tended to be an area of weakness in the past," he said.

"We have made a lot of progress. We've had a very steep learning curve in the last year and a half or so. We have a much more planned approach to what we do now. And I think that will help the players to come through quicker. You cannot create cricketers overnight, but if you minimise the distractions and give them as much of their needs as possible, they can prepare scientifically and properly and appropriately. Then you are helping them to come through quicker. But they still need time. The best preparation is out in the middle. So they need to continue to play more and more cricket," he said.

Prior to the commencement of the match, the new NCC scoreboard will be declared open by the club president Leslie Hewage.

The teams: West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Darren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Neil McGarrell, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Reon King, 12th man Leon Garrick.

Sri Lanka 'A' (from): Hashan Tillakaratne (captain), Ian Daniel, Pradeep Hewage, Michael Vandort, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Tilan Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene, Upul Chandana, Gayan Wijekoon, Dinusha Fernando, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Dammika Sudarshana, Kaushalya Lokuarachchi.

Umpires: Gamini Silva and Nandasena Pathirana.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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