Out: Hinds, King; IN: Deonarine, Best

ST JOHN’S, ANTIGUA: All-rounder Ryan Hinds and bowler Reon King were dropped for the fourth and final Digicel Test match starting Friday at the Antigua Recreation Ground. They have been replaced by Guyanese batsman Narsingh Deonarine and Bajan pacer Tino Best, in a 12-man squad named yesterday. With victory inside four days on Sunday in the third Test at Kensington Oval, South Africa took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and retained the Sir Vivian Richards Trophy. A release from the West Indies Cricket Board said Michael “Joey” Carew, convenor of West Indies selectors and his selectors were disappointed at the performance of the team, “particularly the batsmen, who except Brian Lara, again did not live up to expectations on a good batting wicket.”

“Nevertheless we have another Test match to play and we hope to salvage something from this series as we look forward to the visit of the Pakistanis as well as the difficult tours to Sri Lanka and Australia later this year,” the WICB release said. “Some people are advocating sweeping changes but that policy has never proven to be successful. What we are looking to do is to improve the fitness and conditioning, both mental and physical, of the players to ensure that they are able to contend with the demands of the modern game,” Carew added. Hinds, who returned for the Barbados Test after missing the second Test in Trinidad due to illness, was dropped after ordinary performances with both bat and ball. He managed just 73 runs from three innings, with a highest of 48 in the opening Test in Guyana.

All told, Hinds has scored just 363 runs at an average of 24.20 in nine Tests for the West Indies. King meanwhile has paid the price for just six wickets at 43.33 and the lacklustre performance in the Barbados Test. He finished the first Test in Guyana with four wickets but in 67.5 overs since, has been unable to reap much success. Deonarine, who play-ed in the first Test in Guyana before being dropped with the return of the quartet of Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, makes his second appearance in the series.

The solid left-hander scored 617 for Guyana in this year’s Carib Beer Series while earning 18 wickets with his steady off spin and should be an adequate replacement for Hinds in the lower order. Best is back for his first match for the West Indies since the first Test of the England away series at Lords last year. He has played little competitive cricket since, with his participation in the recent Carib Beer Series being limited to just two matches. Best has played eight Tests, taking 16 wickets at 43.75.

WI SQUAD: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Capt), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Narsingh Deonarine, Dwayne Bravo, Courtney Browne, Daren Powell, Dwight Washington, Fidel Edwards, Tino Best. (CMC)