TAUNTON, England (CMC):West Indies open their England tour with a three-day match against Somerset today, as they prepare for a challenging Test series against the hosts starting next week.
It is the only tour match of the campaign before the string of Tests and the West Indies players, short of match practice in the longer form of the game, will need to capitalise on this opportunity.
Both captain Ramnaresh Sarwan and coach David Moore have already bemoaned the lack of preparation before the Tests, especially against the backdrop of the steady diet of One-Day Internationals in the lead up to and during the recent World Cup.
The team arrived in England Wednesday and will enter today's match with justtwo practice sessions behind them and with rainy weather having prevented a complete practice session on Thursday and more rain expected, Moore said he was remaining hopeful his charges could get a good workout.
"There is always concern when you can't get enough practice time in but we know the weather conditions and we know that there is always going to be that possibility when you come to England or when you go anywhere on a tour that there is always that possibility of having, your preparations disrupted," the Australian told reporters.
"We've come from a long World Cup where players did get the chance to step out and bowl. We hope to get a chance out in the middle over the three days so we can get into a rhythm.
"If that's not the case, that's not the case. We'll bear with it, we've got to deal with the cards we're dealt."
Coming out of a wretched World Cup campaign, the West Indies will be looking to get some positives out of this match in order to boost the confidence in the camp.
They finished sixth in the World Cup, managing just one win in the Super Eight second round and will want to put that performance behind them with a commanding showing against a competi-tive Somerset unit.
In the middle
Players expected to feature in the XI for the opening Test at Lords beginning Thursday will most likely be given a run. This means that Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Denesh Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo should be looking to spend some time in the middle.
With much depending on the form of Barbadian seamer Corey Collymore, he too will want to quickly adjust to the cold, damp English conditions. Pacers Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor and Ravi Rampaul will also want to get adjusted as quickly as possible.
The regional side will face a Somerset line-up that includes Test opener Marcus Trescothick who pummeled 284 against Northamptonshire in the team's most recent County Championship match and Australian batsman Justin Langer, who has scored over 500 runs already this season.
Following the tour match, West Indies will travel to London in preparation for the opening Test.
West Indies squad (from): Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Devon Smith, Sylvester Joseph, Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Darren Sammy, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul.
