England's Monty Panesar (right) bowls at West Indies' Daren Ganga (not pictured) during the fifth day of the first Test at Lord's. Panesar claimed six wickets in the West Indian first innings. - Reuters

LEEDS, England (Agencies):

WEST INDIES captain Ramnaresh Sarwan said yesterday his team has worked out a plan to combat the threat of England's left-arm spinner Monty Panesar.

Panesar, 25, has made his mark in Test cricket since making his debut last year and took 6-129 in the West Indies' first innings at Lord's.

The West Indies know they will need to play him more confidently if they are to enjoy any success in the second Test at Headingley which started this morning (Ja time). The first Test was drawn.

Sarwan, who is leading the West Indies in his first series since replacing the retired Brian Lara as captain this month, indicated their plans have been inspired by world champions Australia.

"It's very important we play positively against Panesar," Sarwan said. "He was quite new to most of us; we hadn't seen much of him before Lord's.

"He didn't get many wickets with the turning ball; it was his arm ball. We hope to have some sort of plan for him in this game; we should have a better feel of him this time.

Stay on top

"One of the things we will try to do is try to stay on top of their main bowlers. We saw when Australia played them they were very positive against Harmison and kind of threw him off. We have a similar sort of approach."

The West Indies will play four Tests and a five-match one-day series on their two-month England tour. Meanwhile, England will field an unfamiliar bowling attack at Headingley, with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and fast bowler Matthew Hoggard out injured.

Flintoff, who also missed the opening Test at Lord's, failed a fitness test on his ankle on Wednesday. Hoggard is sidelined with a groin strain, forcing England selectors to call up fast bowlers James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom, who played his only Test six years ago.

England captain Michael Vaughan returns from a finger injury that kept him out of the Lord's Test. His return means stand-in captain Andrew Strauss could be dropped.

"You are always under pressure playing international cricket," said Vaughan, who has not played Test.