Hooper returns to play for Guyana

GEORGETOWN: Veteran Carl Hooper, up for reappointment as West Indies cricket captain, is back home in the Caribbean to represent Guyana in their Carib Beer International Shield semi-final against Jamaica this weekend.

Hooper was due to arrive in Georgetown — from Trinidad and Tobago — yesterday afternoon to begin preparing for the final starting tomorrow at Albion in Berbice. On his physiotherapist’s recommendation, Hooper spent the past two and a half weeks at his home in Australia on a rest and rehabilitation programme for his troublesome knees, which were operated on late last year. The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) will name their 13-man squad today after injured pacer Reon King, and opening batsmen Sewnarine Chattergoon and Azeemul Haniff undergo fitness tests. Ramnaresh Sarwan is not being considered, because of a finger injury he suffered on the eve of Guyana’s seventh-round match against the Windward Islands earlier this month. Guyana are defending International Shield champions, winning the title last year when Hooper’s magnificent 149 not out guided them to first innings honours in their drawn final against Cup champions Jamaica at Sabina Park in Kingston. The undefeated Guyanese, with 48 points, finished second in the standings to runaway Cup champions Barbados (72 points), with a record of two wins and five draws.