ST JOHN'S, Antigua (AP):

Captains Chris Gayle and Andrew Strauss are confident the distractions of the abandoned second cricket Test will not effect their teams in the hastily arranged third Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground today.

"We gathered yesterday and had a discussion about it," Gayle said. "Our main focus is now playing a Test match at the ARG.

"It was not too difficult because we are here to play cricket. It's the same game plan we had before," he added. "It's a new venue but we have to be ready for it and hopefully we can get things right again."

Routine thrown out

The West Indies lead 1-0 in the series, which is now a four-Test rubber following the abandonment of Friday's second match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium after just 10 balls because of an unfit outfield.

England skipper Strauss said that such a diversion should not affect his players and their preparation.

"I suppose it's one of those situations - a little bit like the terrorist attacks in Mumbai - where your normal day-to-day routine is thrown out of sync to quite a large degree," Strauss said. "We'll have a practice today and try to get our heads around the fact that we're going to be starting at a different ground. That's what we do as cricketers. We travel around the world, we play at different grounds all the time. It shouldn't be anything that we can use as an excuse or anything like that."

Spicy conditions

The ARG was the home of international cricket in Antigua between 1981 and 2006, hosting 21 Tests before the Richards Stadium was purposely built for the 2007 World Cup.

It has generally been a graveyard for bowlers but both teams experienced more spicy conditions at the ARG when they practised there in the lead-up to the second Test.

"There was a bit of pace and bounce in it, to be honest, but it didn't misbehave," Strauss said. "Whether that will be the case come tomorrow (Sunday) morning remains to be seen."

Strauss said such conditions could work in his team's favour.

"Any wicket that offers the chance of a result is good for us at this stage, being 1-0 down in the series" he said. "And if there's a bit of pace and bounce, we have bowlers who can exploit that."

The ARG has been scarred by the frequent football played on the outfield, with the lines having eroded away the grass.

But Strauss was confident there would be no problems on the day.

"No one wants to see a career-threatening injury just for the sake of trying to put a Test match on," he said. "The Recreation Ground outfield is not ideal but I don't think it's dangerous."

Squads

West Indies: Chris Gayle (captain), Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ryan Hinds, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Lionel Baker and Lendl Simmons.

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Ian Bell, Adil Rashid and Tim Ambrose.

Photo by Dellmar
RIGHT: Cleaners working feverishly yesterday to get the stands at the Antigua Recreation Ground ready for the start of today's third Test.