West Indian skipper Chris Gayle (centre) goes through his paces in the nets under the watchful gaze of coach John Dyson (right) in Bridgetown, Barbados, yesterday. - Photo by Dellmar

ST JOHN'S, Antigua (AP):

HEAD COACH John Dyson is betting on captain Chris Gayle to boost the West Indies' batting as the home team aims to bounce back in the second Test against Australia today.

The visitors lead the three-match series 1-0 following a 95-run victory on the fifth and final day at Sabina Park on Monday.

"With Gayle, he's 90 per cent right," Dyson said yesterday after a net session, "We have to wait and see how he pulls up in the afternoon, night and the next morning, but we're confident," he said.

Gayle, the hard-hitting opener and veteran of 72 Tests, missed the first Test because of a groin injury.

Urges disciplined approach

Dyson was buoyed by Gayle's expected return, but urged his batsmen to be more disciplined in their approach.

"We got out to a few soft dismissals that we'll be mindful to try to avoid," the former Australian batsman said.

The West Indies were bowled out for 312 to concede a first-innings lead of 119, and then fell for 191 in their second innings in pursuit of a victory target of 287.

"From the scores of the first Test, you can tell we didn't score enough runs in the first innings," he said, "We'll be mindful of building bigger partnerships and scoring bigger individual scores."

Lift for Windies

Gayle will likely replace fellow Jamaican Brenton Parchment, who scored nine and 15 in Kingston, at the top of the order.

Another lift for the West Indies is the return of pace ace Jerome Taylor, who has recovered from a sore back that ruled him out of the series opener. The 23-year-old Taylor will take the place of axed off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth.

The final spot seems to be a choice between all-rounder Darren Sammy and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn.

Sammy enjoyed a satisfying effort in the first match, but Benn offers the only specialist spin option.

Australia are boosted by the return of vice-captain Michael Clarke, but Matthew Hayden was sent home with an Achilles tendon injury.

Clarke, a stylish right-hander, is likely to replace Brad Hodge, despite his scores of 56 and 27 in the series opener.

Left-hander Simon Katich should be retained at the top of the order despite his double failure in Kingston.

New ball pair

Captain Ricky Ponting leaned heavily on the new ball pair of Stuart Clark and Brett Lee for the opening victory. But he was confident that left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson and legspinner Stuart MacGill would offer more support in Antigua.

"I've got no concerns with those guys at all," he said. "There are always going to be one or two bowlers in any game that probably don't end up getting the results they are after.

"Mitchell's been coming along leaps and bounds for 12 or 18 months now, and I've sung his praises enough. Stuey showed enough good signs there (in Jamaica). To get two late wickets would be good for his confidence."

Teams

West Indies: Chris Gayle (captain), Devon Smith, Ram-naresh Sarwan, Runako Morton, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Sulieman Benn, Brenton Parchment, Xavier Marshall.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Phil Jaques, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Stuart Mac-Gill, Brad Hodge, Beau Casson, Ashley Noffke, Doug Bollinger.