BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):
THE WEST Indies selectors kept their faith in youth in choosing a 16-man squad for the four-Test tour of England that begins next month following a triangular series of one-day internationals.
The Test team was officially announced yesterday. The six-week tour begins with a three-day fixture against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Arundel from July 13-15.
The Brian Lara-led side has only four players who are over 25, with the bowling department being particularly inexperienced.
Left-arm seamer Pedro Collins, at 27 and with 80 wickets in 24 Tests, leads a pace attack in which all five members are making their first senior tour to England.
FAST BOWLERS
The 22-year-olds Tino Best, Fidel Edwards and Jermaine Lawson and 19-year-old Ravi Rampaul complete the fast bowling armory.
There is no room for the experienced Corey Collymore and Mervyn Dillon, both of whom have been named as reserves.
Collins is one of four players who join the Test squad after missing out on selection for the one-dayers in England. He is joined by his half brother Edwards, expected to be fully fit after a hamstring strain, Omari Banks and Sylvester Joseph.
Ricardo Powell, Ian Bradshaw and Darren Sammy will miss out after the July 10 completion of the NatWest triangular one-day series, which includes the West Indies, England and New Zealand. That series starts June 24.
Banks, who turns 22 next month, is the only specialist slow bowler in the squad. All-rounder Dwayne Bravo, already in the one-day party, will remain in Britain while batsman Joseph is recalled.
Both players will be on their first full tours with the Test team and are rewarded for impressive 2004 home seasons.
Joseph, 25, notched 517 runs for the Leeward Islands and ended the season on a high with a century off the touring Bangladeshis for the West Indies Board XI.
Veteran wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs, at 36 in the twilight of his career, is given backup in the form of 21-year-old Carlton Baugh Jr.
The squad:
Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Sylvester Joseph, Ridley Jacobs, Carlton Baugh Jr., Omari Banks, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Pedro Collins, Jermaine Lawson, Ravi Rampaul.
Reserves: Corey Collymore, Darren Sammy, Dave Mohammed.
