Windies aiming to extend dominance over England

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Still buoyant from their historic series win, West Indies will seek to extend their new-found dominance over England in the solitary Twenty20 International of the tour at the Queen's Park Oval today.

Windies wrapped up a 1-0 win in the five-Test series last Tuesday, their first over their former colonial masters in 11 years and will hope to use this as a fillip in the 2 p.m. (1 p.m. Ja time) encounter which has already been sold out.

They will have to continue that dominance without their influential captain and aggressive top-order batsman Chris Gayle who will sit out the match while he recovers from injury.

It means that his deputy, Denesh Ramdin, will now lead the regional side for the first time in an international match, an experience the 24-year old said yesterday he was looking forward to.

"I am really excited. I like the leadership role and I know I will get the full support of everyone on and off the field," said Ramdin who was elevated to the vice-captaincy role on the tour of New Zealand late last year.

excited

"All the players are really excited and looking forward to the match. We expect a large crowd and that will help to motivate us as we enter the match. We played well in the Test series and it was great to win.

"Now we are moving to the shorter form of the game and we will be looking to keep up the momentum there too."

West Indies hold the edge over England in recent head-to-head meetings if last year's Stanford US$20-million winner-takes-all extravaganza is taken into account.

On that occasion, the Stanford Superstars, comprising most of the players in the current 13-man squad, walloped England by 10 wickets after bowling out the tourists for a paltry 99 at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua.

When the two teams met in a two-match series on the Windies' last tour to England in 2007, they drew 1-1 after the Caribbean side won the first match and lost the second at the Oval.

With history behind them, both teams will have plenty to play for and will also want to strike some form of a psychological blow ahead of their five-match one-day international series beginning in Guyana next week.

"The home crowd will be like an extra player for us. I know they will be behind the team," said Ramdin.

"The expectations will be high and the intensity will be high. There will be a lot of energy and we will be looking to play hard and enjoy the game."

In the absence of Gayle's devastating left-handed hitting, West Indies will depend upon the experienced players in the form of Ramnaresh Sarwan and the ever-reliable Shiv Chanderpaul.

West Indies will gladly welcome back the all-round talents of Dwayne Bravo who will not only add impetus to the batting and bowling but is sure to be live wire in the field.

ankle surgery

He has not played for the regional side since July last year following ankle surgery and will be anxious to reassert himself.

All-rounder Darren Sammy has been recalled to the side after some outstanding performances in the ongoing regional first-class season and he will also contribute in several departments.

England, already with the Test series loss hanging over their heads, will see this as the chance to redeem themselves on what has been a disappointing Caribbean tour to date.

Following the crushing innings defeat in Jamaica, they have failed to win a match and with the ODI series looming, will see this as the avenue by which to salvage their tropical campaign.

They have been reinforced by their one-day players and captain Andrew Strauss said he believed his side was on the cusp of a turnaround.

"If ever there was a time to break our duck for the winter, now is that time," England captain Andrew Strauss said.

"I think the guys are excited about it. As is always the case with one-day series, the one-day guys come and add energy to the squad. The Test guys are looking forward to getting away from fielding for 170 overs and playing a slightly different brand of cricket."

"There's always that enthusiasm at the start of a one-day series and that enthusiasm can be built on by performing well and winning. I think we've got a good idea of the type of cricket we want to play. One thing that is very important for us is to get more out of the players we've got."

missed terribly

They have been lifted by the return of talismanic all-rounder Freddie Flintoff who flew home during the fourth Test at Kensington Oval to get treatment for a hip injury.

His presence will be valued by England after it was missed terribly during the last two Tests of the series.

As usual, the imposing Kevin Pietersen will remain central to England's batting efforts with the all-round efforts of Dimitri Mascarenhas and Stuart Broad, which will also be much appreciated in this shorter form of the game.

Squads: West Indies - Denesh Ramdin, Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Keiron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor

England - Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Steven Davies, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Amjad Khan.

West Indies' Ramnaresh Sarwan

England's Kevin Pietersen