SARWAN INHERITS STRIFE OF BRIAN

The retirement of Lara, their captain, after the World Cup failure on home soil leaves no one to hide behind for the 15-man squad selected for the four-Test tour beginning against Somerset at Taunton a week tomorrow.

His replacement, Ramnaresh Sarwan, who will lead a party lacking a frontline spinner after the exclusion of Dave Mohammed and Marlon Samuels, is hoping adversity will bring the best out of a team that have not beaten England in a Test for seven years.

“Brian was a tremendous player for us and a tremendous player for the world but it cannot be a one-man show. I’m sure we’ll be able to pull together as a team and that the other players will be able to mature on the tour,” said Sarwan.

“It is an opportunity for the youngsters to show their skills and what they’re made of. I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to it.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s Ravi Rampaul is recalled to a relatively strong seam-bowling unit. Without Lara, though, the batting looks vulnerable for the hectic series of four Tests in a month which begin at Lord’s on May 17. The limited-overs squad will be named later.

WEST  INDIES TOUR PARTY:  Sarwan  (capt), Bravo, Chanderpaul, Collymore, Edwards, Ganga, Gayle, Joseph, Morton, Powell, Ramdin (wk), Sammy, Smith, Taylor, Rampaul.