West Indies sweat on Gayle fitness

/ Editor / 06 June 2007 / Leave a Comment

West Indies will give Chris Gayle every chance to prove his fitness ahead of the third Test against England at Old Trafford.

Gayle is set to have a rigorous workout in the nets today before the selectors finalise their team for the match which gets underway in Lancashire on Thursday.

The all-rounder currently has a side strain, but coach David Moore thinks that the pitch will take spin and is keen to have a slow bowler in the side.

"We want him to be able to bowl in the nets for us if he is going to do it in the match," he said. "If he can't bowl, then we will have to make adjustments.

"We would like to have some sort of spinning option, that's for sure. He's the only one who has got Test credentials with regards to his spin bowling."

If Gayle fails to prove he is fit to turn his arm over then it is likely the spin bowling duties will fall to Marlon Samuels, even though he only arrived recently as Ramnaresh Sarwan's replacement and has only enjoyed limited success in Test matches.

Sylvester Joseph would most likely make way to accommodate Samuels, after he only managed 14 runs in his two innings in the second Test at Headingley.

Gayle has registered 101 runs so far during the Series and is 3.7 to finish as West Indies top batsmen, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has 74 runs to his name, available at 3.85.

Stand-in skipper Daren Ganga who has hit 94 so far could offer Betfair punters more value as he is available at 6.8.

Elsewhere, England are trading at 1.48 to win the Test and wrap up the series, while West Indies are available at 19 with the draw 3.65.